


A Gathering Storm

by Angel_Mochi127



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Car Accidents, Gen, Hurt Byun Baekhyun, Hurt Lee Taemin, Hurt Mark Lee (NCT), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Lee Taeyong Needs a Hug, M/M, hurt lee taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24595471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Mochi127/pseuds/Angel_Mochi127
Summary: “Breaking news. It has just been revealed that the SM idols: Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, Lee Taemin, and Byun Baekhyun have all been reported missing-”“As of right now, the entertainment company SM or the police hasn’t issued an announcement concerning the investigation of the idols’ whereabouts and wellbeing- ”"What do we do Hyung ?""....I don't know..."
Relationships: Choi Minho/Lee Taemin, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 126
Kudos: 628





	1. MARK

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there. This the first time I'm writing a story like this and I have no idea how this will turn out but I'm bored in lockdown so yeah...  
> I'm just going to say now that there will be descriptions of torture and other trigger warning things (Probs not good ones cause I'm not the greatest writer in the world) so if that's not your type of thing then this isn't for you.
> 
> I'd also like to thank Survivor4Life, this work was inspired by theirs so go check them out if you haven't.

Mark was drifting off to sleep, every passing minute his chin was slowly gravitating more and more to his chest as he listened to the soft, exhausted voices scattered around the waiting room. He was about to accept the sweet warm embrace of unconsciousness when he felt an annoying flick to his forehead. 

Still half asleep, groggy and disoriented, he blinked his eyes open to see Jungwoo hovering above him. “Sorry, but Taeyong Hyung is going to be back soon so you need to get ready to leave.” He apologised.

“What he means is stop being lazy and pack your bag.” Donghyuck sassed from the corner of the room, his eyes still glued to whatever was on his phone. Mark’s ears picked up a faint slap followed by a whine of ‘HYUNG !’ after that.

Grudgingly, He lifted himself off the sofa and trudged towards his bag. You’d think after all these years, after being in 3 units- _guess 4 since he’ll be back in NCT Dream soon_ \- he’d welcome tiredness like an old friend. Long days and nights without a break insight were part of an idol’s job description. 

It didn’t make it easier, however.

“I still think it’s weird that you and Taeyong have this ‘spontaneous’ photoshoot, these kinds of things that have to be planned months in advance,” Johnny stated behind Mark; he peered over his shoulder to see his Hyung’s tall figure sprawled over the exact sofa he was once occupying.

“The company could have known for ages…” Mark started.

However he never got to finish before Jaehyun injected, “Well not really, manager Hyung would have definitely warned us in advance. We’ve been planning this meal for weeks now.”

Mark huffed, ignoring Johnny’s exclamation of ‘THANK YOU !’. He and the rest of the members have all been extremely busy recently, whether it was due to other groups or solo projects, that they had all decided to have a meal together, once promotions for their latest comeback was over. Taeyong had even personally asked the management.

That was until a few weeks ago when they got told about a magazine photoshoot for SuperM.

“Oh no, he’s got his bad news face on.”

He looked up from his packed backpack to see Taeyong quietly entering the room, frowning at his phone and then frowning at Doyoung, who had pointed out said frown.

“I don’t have a bad news face.” Taeyong disputed.

‘Yes, you do’ and hums of disagreement chimed in at once, the loudest being Doyoung and Donghyuck.

“What’s happened ?” Mark asked, tentatively. He had a gut feeling that this would be about the photoshoot.

Taeyong sighed, running his hands through his hair, looking minutes away from biting off his nails until Jaehyun came up behind him - _not subtlety may he add if the smirk Yuta and Johnny shared said anything_ \- to place a comforting hand on his back. “ It’s not exactly bad news. Youngjae Hyung says that Junyoung Hyung is stuck in traffic so Hyung is going to take me and Mark to the shoot while Junyoung is going to take the rest of you back to the dorms. I know you guys are exhausted but would you mind….”

“Tae, it’s okay. We don’t mind sticking around for a bit longer.” Taeil reassured him as did the rest of them.

After that, the activity picked up again in the room. In the corner of his eye, he could see Taeyong mouthing a thank you at Taeil before getting dragged away by Jaehyun to go somewhere more secluded.

Mark took this time to say goodbye to his hyungs- _or suffocated by one of Yuta’s hugs-_ before leaving the waiting room to meet Youngjae. Said Hyung was on the phone- _he assumed with Junyoung-_ and pacing nervously down the long, porcelain hallway.

It was about 5 minutes later, Taeyoung decided to join the two with a furious blush spread across his cheeks and hair that was slightly disheveled. The blush deepened even further when he met Mark's playful gaze.

He was about to make a joke before Yongjae interrupted, “ That was Junyoung, WayV flight has been delayed and there’s been a mix up with Baekhyun’s schedule. So as of right now it’s you two and Taemin today then Lucas, Ten, Baekhyun and Kai tomorrow ”

Great. At this rate - _and knowing their luck-_ something will happen to Taemin and it’ll just be him and Taeyong doing this stupid shoot.

“Come on. Fingers crossed there’ll be coffee in the car.” Taeyong assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as they followed their manager to the parking lot.

There wasn’t coffee in the car.

At least, on the upside, he could have a 30-minute nap while they were driving to the shoot location. As if he was reading his mind, he felt Taeyong softly place a hand on his head, guiding it down so it was on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Hyung.” He mumbled sleepily.

His eyes had only started to slip shut when caught a glimpse of an enormously large black van speeding towards them head-on. 

“WATC-”

But it was too late, in only mere seconds, he felt his every bone, nerve, and fiber in his being shift violently as the van ploughed into them like they were only a speck of dust. Taeyong had been closest to the collision and Mark had heard him cry out first before being vigorously slammed into the window next to him. 

He must have blacked out after that because the next thing he knew he was sputtering and coughing his way to consciousness like his lungs had just figured out how to breathe again.

“Hyu-Hyung ?” Mark choked out against the pounding in his head and the trickle of crimson making its way down his face. He tried to turn towards Taeyong but in his blurred vision, he could only make out an open, crumpled car door like it had been forcibly ripped open and…

An empty seat.

There wasn’t any time to regain any sort of composure before he felt unwanted hands unbuckle his seatbelt and drag him forcibly out of the car. He could feel the cold wind pierce his torn skin the minute his uncooperative body hit the glass ridden concrete. Despite the pain making everything spin ten times more than a rollercoaster; he knew one thing: that the man who was gripping tightly on the collar of his, now ripped, jacket so he could pull him, wasn’t his guardian angel coming to save them.

“Stop...please” He whimpered, he tried to shout it so the man could hear him but the pain wasn’t letting him, it was just growing and growing by the minute with a relentless pursuit 

Before he knew it, he was thrown into, what he could only perceive as the back of a van- _maybe a large trunk_ From where his broken, bloodied body laid, he could make out the faint impression of Taeyong’s unconscious, scratched face facing him, a couple of centimeters away. His breath was heavy like he had run a marathon. But that wasn’t what drew Mark's attention.

What drew his painful attention was what seemed to be Taeyong’s mangled leg lying in a position that not even a contortionist would attempt to do. _Oh god, Hyung._

“We got them, What’s the status on the others-”

“-got the Shinee maknae but-complications-”

“ _Shinee maknae….Taemin Hyung”_ Mark thought but it was barely coherent as the throbbing in the head intensified and his vision darkened. 

The last thing he remembered was the slamming of the van doors before everything went black.


	2. TAEMIN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 down, 2 to go

丨 _To: Jongin - 9:03 AM_

**_You left your bag here last night..._ **

**_(PIC OF BAG)_ **

丨 _To: Jongin- 9:45 AM_

**_Jongin?_ **

**_You up?_ **

丨 _To: Jongin- 10:30 AM_

**_YAH ..._ **

**_JONGIN..._ **

**_GET UP..._ **

_From: Jongin-11:01 AM_ 丨

**_SHIT..._ **

**_I slept through my alarm..._ **

**_I’m supposed to be meeting Moonkyu for lunch at 12..._ **

**_Any chance you can bring it up?_ **

丨 _To:Jongin- -11:02 AM_

**_Sorry I can’t, I’ve got that shoot for SuperM today..._ **

**_Hop into the shower and come to_** **_mine to pick it up, I should be still here if you’re quick…_ **

**_If you need to, just meet him at my place_ **

_From: Jongin--11:03 AM_ 丨

**_Thanks, Tae_ **

丨 _To: Jongin-- 11:03 AM_

**_Next time remember to set multiple alarms, idiot (SMILING EMOJI)_ **

_From: Jongin--11:10 AM_ 丨

**_Onw…_ **

**_you had a chance to talk to Minho hyung yet?_ **

Taemin was tempted to dramatically drown himself in his bowl of soggy chocolate squares because of Jongin’s last text. He knew that wouldn’t achieve anything and it wouldn’t stop Jongin from calling him a ‘stubborn idiot’ but it felt like the better option compared to replying to that question.

And then inevitably having to face Minho.

Groaning at the mere thought of that conversation, he decided to drown in chocolate milk was definitely the better option.

“Ignoring the problem won’t make it disappear.” His manager Daesung commented, opposite from where he sat on the breakfast bar, busy reading something on his phone.

Forcefully dropping his spoon into his cereal bowl, causing the milk to splash onto the granite counter, Taemin complained, “ I thought as my manager you would be the one to try and steer me away from bad decisions.”

“Like I have any control over you and your actions.” joked Daesung, still focussed on his phone than Taemin’s pressing issue. To which Taemin lightly slapped his arm so he could bring his attention to him. Sighing, Daesung placed his phone on the counter and drew his eyes up to Taemin’s ‘puppy dog face’.

“You want my opinion, talk to him. Things have cooled down since your fight so it should be alright. But if you let this fester for too long, it’s only going to make things worse ” He advised. Advice Taemin strongly did not want to hear.

“I’m going to go have a shower.” Taemin grumbled, abruptly getting up from the kitchen stool and going to his bedroom however, not before, hearing Daesung call out“All it takes is one text.”

As the hot water cascaded down Taemin’s back, his mind started drifting back to his last talk with the Minho. The one that started this whole mess. The one that had crumbled their stable relationship of 4 years. He and Minho were the only ones who knew what truly happened that night- _well_ _he could only guess that Minho hadn’t told anyone because he hasn’t had any fanatic calls from Jinki hyung or Kibum hyung yet._

“ _If Jongin or Daesung knew what it was about they wouldn’t…”_ Taemin started to think until a sudden crash emitted from outside the bathroom door.

“Hyung ?” Taemin shouted, switching off the shower, “Is everything alright ?”

After calling several times and hearing no reply, he decided to get out of the shower and get changed to check on him.

Even from before the crash- _call it a gut feeling-_ he had a foreboding intuition that something wasn’t going to go his way today _._ He never expected to discover his manager lying unconscious in his bedroom, a trickle of scarlet down his face and he never expected to feel something cold harshly press into the middle of his shoulder blades.

“Move away and turn around or I’ll put a bullet in your back,” the unfamiliar voice ordered, “and then another through your manager’s head.”

Shakily with his hands raised near his head, Taemin slowly turned around to face two masked men; both holding guns in their hands with one pointing at him and the other at his hyung.

“Please don’t,” Taemin chokingly whispered, ignoring everything instinct in him to fight, run or cry, “whatever you want..”

“Taemin ?”

At that one word...that one worrisome word, he felt the blood pumping through his veins freeze. The pounding of his heart come to a colossal stop.

….Jongin….

He had forgotten Jongin was coming over… and now he was here in his apartment with 2 armed men that obviously weren’t playing around told by the blood smeared over Daesung’s head. 

Despite every molecule in his body feeling like it was agonisingly turning into stone, he still felt one of the men tightly grip his damaged, bleached hair, the minute Jongin’s voice pierced through the apartment. His other hand went over Taemin’s mouth, to muffle any noise.

“Shit, what do we do ?” He asked his partner in crime, his voice only a mere whisper “we weren’t expecting anyone else.”

The only response given, however, was a bored look from the partner whilst he silently switched the safety off his gun. If it wasn’t for the grip on his hair, Taemin was sure his knees would have given out at that moment from the amount of force his body was trembling from. A trembling which only became stronger and stronger as Jongin’s cry of his name became more panicked.

“We were told no civilian casualties.” The same man from before hissed.

“I’m not risking this job, over some stupid idol’s life.” The other objected, ready to blast through the door and put a multitude of bullets into his best friend.

As the whispered argument between his two captures became more and more intense and Jongin drew closer and closer to the bedroom door. Taemin knew he had to act.

Using all the adrenaline and strength he had left in his fear-ridden body; he stomped on the first guy's foot while biting his hand. He could barely hear the man swear out in pain over the sound of his blood pumping in his ears whilst he ducked under the second guy’s arm; thrust out to tackle him to the ground. He didn’t have a plan, any tactic. He had just reacted out of pure instinct to protect his brother. 

“JONGIN, RUN-”

Then a gun went off…

The world froze

But it wasn’t Taemin on the floor, feeling like every cell in his body had exploded. Clutching at a crimson stain to stop the white, hot blaring pain coursing through his abdomen.

No.

Taemin was being man-handled out of the door; screaming for the life of his brother who was falling into death’s clutches.


	3. BAEKHYUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 down, only 1 to go

“Okay, we’re done here, Baekhyun-ssi.”

As soon as those few words left the producer’s mouth, Baekhyun felt all the tension from the recording left. With superhuman-like speed, he removed the bulky studio headphones which were clasping his head tightly to the point of a potential headache.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun grinned, bowing to the diligent producers, despite being grateful that the recording was finally over. Solo schedules, he found, always dragged; it didn’t matter if it was a recording, photoshoot, or dance practice, he’d always prefer doing a long day of schedules with his members. 

“You were great, Baekhyun-ssi.” One of the producers complimented him, once he left the recording studio, causing the said singer to turn deep red in embarrassment.

“Fortunately, we are ahead of schedule so you have enough time for a break before interviews” His manager disclosed, passing him his favorite iced americano.

He nearly snatched the drink out of his manager’s hand with the amount of enthusiasm he exerted taking it, extremely grateful for the caffeine.

He was about to thank him until he caught, in the corner of his eye, one of the producers ushering his manager over. Taking this chance, Baekhyun decided to hop into the nearby toilet so he could freshen up before eating lunch.

“  _ Hopefully that coffee will be enough to get me through the rest of the day.”  _ He thought, once in the bathroom as he repeatedly splashed icy water on his face to wake up his tired ridden senses.

Baekhyun’s week hasn’t been the greatest so far, for a number of reasons. The main one being a mix up in his schedule. For some reason, someone in management decided to accidentally book a SuperM magazine photoshoot - that his manager wasn’t even aware of until recently if his grumbling were correct- on the same day he had a full day shoot for his upcoming solo album. This tiny mistake led to the entire reshuffling of his week’s schedule making him have to cancel plans with Yixing, who was coming back to Korea in what seemed like forever.

This led him to fall into a rabbit hole full of complex feelings like sadness and frustration one night with a side of a large pineapple pizza. Once realizing how little he saw of his other members in recent months. With 3 in the military, one constantly in China, one married with a little girl, and no EXO comebacks in sight; the only member he actually interacts with is Jongin and  that’s only because of SuperM. It doesn’t help that his own enlistment is looming over his head.

A vibrate in his back pocket broke the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his head. ‘Taeminnie’ was flashing on the screen with a photo of the two taken from their latest trip to LA when both of them were pushed into the pool by Jongin after a long night of celebrating and a few too many bottles of champagne.

“Hey Taeminnie, what’s up.” Baekhyun greeted brightly, balancing the phone between his shoulder and head so he could wash his hands.

“....H….Hyung ?” 

Instantly, Baekhyun sobered up, knowing something was wrong when Taemin’s quiet voice whimpered through the phone.

“Taemin, what’s wrong ?” He asked urgently, a feeling of cold dread settling in his stomach, brewing an eruption similar to a volcano.

“Whatever they say don’t-” Taemin started to sputter before he was suddenly ripped away by some unknown force.

Baekhyun has experienced panic before, countless times it was hard not to come by in his line of work. Before a live show, a recording, an important interview. However, he has never experienced the type of panic he felt when he heard Taemin cry out, the phone going silent.

“TAEMIN…”

No answer...

“TAEMIN… ARE YOU STILL THERE”

“TAEM-”

“Hello, Baekhyun-ssi.”

His body turned cold at that voice. That unrecognisable voice on Taemin’s phone...with Taemin...who just cried out.

“Who is this ?” Baekhyun croaked out, fighting the urge to throw up, “What have you done to Taemin ?”

“Taemin-ssi is right next to here, perfectly fine.” The man answered, a mixture of reassurance and threat, “Whether that changes is up to you or not.”

In movies, the ones he and the members would watch on a late night in one of the many hotels they would be in; the protagonist would immediately know what to do, run towards the action and save the day but Baekhyun wasn’t that protagonist. He had no idea what to do and every minute slipping by he could be putting Taemin’s life in more danger.

Unconsciously, Baekhyun inched his way to the bathroom door as he asked, “ What do you want ?” His voice wavering with every word.

“Well for starters, you could stop inching towards the door.”The man ordered patronisingly as if Baekhyun was an ant under his boot.

Baekhyun whipped around, away from the door, once the man said that. He frantically searched for a camera, something that allowed whoever this was to see him; his skin prickled with the idea that this man had been watching him the entire time.

Maybe for longer.

“Now as for what I want. Once I hang up, I want you to leave that bathroom and head to the parking lot section A. There you’ll see a black Hyundai waiting for you to get it.” The man explained, his once sophisticated voice growing more sinister and menacing by the minute, “ If you even think to talk to someone, call the police or ask for help on the way, I will slit your friend’s throat right here now. Are we clear ?”

Hearing a faint, teary gasp in the background, Baekhyun fanatically nodded his head, to the point it could've flown off, forgetting the individual on the phone wasn’t in the room.

“See you soon, Baekhyun-ssi.”

As the discernible hang up tone clicked, Baekhyun released a heavy breath he didn’t realise he was holding. The immense panic was starting to overwhelm him, he was starting to become dizzy and it didn’t help that his vision was fogged with unshed tears, busting at the seam.

“ _ No, No He can’t give up. Taeminnie needs me.”  _ Baekhyun thought, wiping the tears furiously.

With newfound bravery, he marched out of the bathroom but not before glaring at his surroundings, hoping the man on the phone caught it.  


The problem with being an idol is that you can never hide, no matter how many hats or masks you wore, there was always a camera nearby whether a fan, Dispatch, or just some person on the street who happened to recognise you from a poster nearby. Being invisible was near to impossible. So Baekhyun took his time, he avoided the main route to the parking lot and went for the longer, less known way in the hope he wouldn’t be spotted by a stray SM staff member, trainee, or member from another band. He vaguely remembered seeing Red Velvet in one of the dance studios this morning.

He could only hope the man behind all this- _ I might just have to call him Jeffrey from this moment on- _ recognised his effort to stay hidden and didn’t do anything rash for taking too long.

He arrived at the parking lot filled to the brim with a multitude of different coloured and manufactured cars but completely vacant of any human life. All staff already inside the SM building, hard at work. Through the vast waves of steel and aluminum, he could pinpoint the black Hyundai nestled next to Irene’s car in the far left.

The pounding of his heart started to engulf his ear as he drew closer and closer to, maybe, Taemin or maybe his demise _ \- it could be both, he was unsure.  _ It was practically deafening when he tapped on the window of the car to the point he could barely hear his own heavy breathing.

He didn’t know what he expected to see once the car window rolled down: a rough thug of a man taller and stronger than Sehun and Chanyeol combined; or maybe the complete opposite with a refined, polished, intelligent man like the mafia bosses he saw on TV. It was neither.

What he saw was an average man, maybe only a few years older than Minseok; he wasn’t in a suit or some all black-masked attire but just some dark black jeans and a white shirt. He could easily blend into any street or building he chose and not a single person would question it.

“Baekhyun-ssi” He greeted, a kind smile graced his face but Baekhyun could easily tell how fake it was, something he had learned from his many years in the entertainment industry.

Baekhyun’s eyes drifted to the back of the car where he could make Taemin; his mouth gagged tightly with a ragged cloth that looked to see better days while hands were bound with layers on layers of unrestrictive rope, he could faintly make out tiny specs of blood where it must have chaffed after struggles of escape. However he focused on his eyes that were blotched and red from tears, still gushing down his face, it seemed to increase when he noticed Baekhyun at the car window.

“I’m sorry” He mouthed to Taemin but it didn’t matter…

None of it did when Baekhyun entered the car as docile as a trained puppy.

Sealing both of their fates with a click of a car door lock.


	4. JONGDAE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aftermath Part 1

“ _It’s Jongin, Dae. He’s at the hospital and ... shit, it’s bad, I don’t know what to do...please get here.”_

Jongdae was in his apartment when the call from Chanyeol came. He could barely understand him over his blubbering but understood enough to know that something bad had happened to Jongin. Something bad enough to have Chanyeol sobbing like Niagara falls.

So he dropped everything, left his wife and newborn baby, and raced to the hospital while consequently breaking every traffic law in existence. He didn’t care though, his brothers needed him more.

It was only a few weeks ago when Jongdae was at the hospital. It was the happiest day of his life, surrounded by the people he most cherished, as they all waited for the birth of his little girl. Now he was here again, staring down those familiar sterile, porcelain hallways however this time, there was no happiness, giddiness, or excitement. Just plain old dread.

When Jongdae entered the hospital room, he felt like all the air in his lungs had been punched out.

Jongin had always been one of the taller and stronger members in their group whether it was now or 8 years ago at the mere age of 17, about to debut, but as Jongdae stared at Jongin’s weak, fragile body surrounded by more machines than he could count; for the first time in his entire life, Jongin looked tiny.

With the cluster of blinking, beeping machines; the horde of wires and tubes dripping various solutions from blood to saline; and the large oxygen mask occupying most of Jongin’s once tanned face. It was a miracle he could see him at all.

He forced his wobbly legs over to the white plastic chair, next to Jongin bed, and collapsed in it. Chanyeol was passed out opposite to him, on the other cheap plastic chair; his head leaning heavily on his hand, making his neck crane to the side uncomfortably. While Sehun - _despite his enormous height-_ was huddled on the sofa located in the corner of the room, dried tears marks still painted on his face.

“Dae ?” Chanyeol's groggy, disoriented voice asked listlessly; his eyes squinting against the room’s bright, artificial lights, making sure it was actually Jongdae across from him, “When did you get here ?”

“Only a few minutes ago” Jongdae answered, grimacing for Chanyeol’s neck and the crack it made which interrupted the morbid, continuous beep echoing in the room.

“Chanyeol…” He uttered, his slight voice crack grabbing Chanyeol’s immediate attention from his extensive stretching. 

Jongdae’s mind was split into two: one wanted to stay in denial, didn’t want to know the gory details of what happened to his younger brother; the other wanted to know, wanted to know why someone would do something so merciless to sweet, beloved Jongin.

His curiosity won in the end.

“What happened, Chanyeol.”

If any fatigue was left in Chanyeol, it was suddenly flushed out of him at that one question, it almost made Jongdae regret asking the dreadful question.

“The doctor said he has a mild concussion and was….shot in the abdomen” Chanyeol gasped out, crawling at his chest as fresh tears already working down his face, “Someone shot Jongin and then left him to bleed out...they said... his heart stopped in the ambulance.”

As Chanyeol went on, the churning in his stomach that had been slowly brewing since he barrelled through the hospital doors, increased and increased to the point he was only minutes away from running to the toilet to throw up his breakfast. 

He had a sudden need to cling to Jongin so he could reassure himself that he was still here and breathing. A small part of optimism in him hoped that maybe the palm squeezed between his hands would squeeze back but….

There was nothing.

Just a lifeless hand.

“Fuck...Nini.” Jongdae uttered, goosebumps enveloping his body when he placed the cold touch of Jongin’s hands to rest on his forehead. 

“I tried to call the others but none of them would pick up, I know Baekhyun has a few interviews today and maybe Yixing hyung is filming a show but other than that… I don’t know,” Chanyeol fretted, voice quaking and quivering with every shudder of a breath, “ I...I should try again, they need to know….they need-”

“Yeol,” Jongdae interrupted him before he could work himself into a panic attack. Despite his own fear and worry looming over him, Jongade bravely stifled it down. Chanyeol needed him. “ I’ll do that alright, you’ve done enough as it is.”

Chanyeol nodded appreciatively, slightly relaxing like the weight of the world had rolled off his shoulders.

The room went quiet after that except for the shrill beeping of the heart machine. Jongdae knew he should have left the room immediately after that so he could ring the others but instead, he stayed seated, still clenching Jongin’s hand. Trying to ignore the bigger issue that sooner or later he’ll have to go and break the bad news to the rest of the members.

“ _Damn, how did Chanyeol get the courage to call me ?”_ Jongdae thought, feeling like he was carrying the weight of the world now.

He could already imagine how each of those conversations would play out that. The questions they’d guiltily ask _‘What happened ?’, ‘Why did this happen ?’, ‘Where did this happen….’_

_“Huh...where did this happen ?”_

“Do you know where this happened ?” Jongdae blurted out, startling Chanyeol out of his own rapid train of thought.

Chanyeol immediately shook his head and stuttered, “uh...No, No I don’t… I think he said he was going to meet Moonkyu but other than...I don’t know”

The stress was becoming too much for Chanyeol, it was making him crumble down as if he was an old statue battered with a sledgehammer. He had started to furiously massage his temples to combat an oncoming migraine making a pang of guilt to flood through Jongdae. He shouldn’t have asked not when Chanyeol was: one of the first to see Jongin; the one who took care of Sehun when he saw his best friend struggling to stay alive; the one who had the courage to call the rest of the members.

“He was going to go to Taemin-hyung's place.”

The two seated idols swiveled to see two, now awake, beady brown eyes, slightly hidden behind two lengthy, folded legs, blink at them from the sofa. Sehun’s curled up, vulnerable state, made the 26-year-old look like he was 14 again, back when there were 12 of them, scared he wouldn’t make it in this big corporate machine of a label. Except for this time he was scared for his best friend’s life.

Seeing both his hyungs confused faces, he elaborated, “He told me he left his bag there so he was going to go to Taemin's apartment before meeting Moonkyu for lunch.”

“...He was at Taemin place...” Jongade repeated out loud, his voice slowly drifting off at the end but he knew the other two had caught on to what he was thinking. If Jongin was at Taemin’s, did that mean he was shot at Taemin’s?

And more importantly…

Where was Taemin?

He was so deep in thought, that he barely registered the sudden blasting of Chanyeol’s phone; from where he was sat, he made out the faint name of WooJin hyung, one of their managers. Chanyeol sluggishly answered with a ‘Hyung ?’

However that sluggishness evaporated, once the manager, on the other end, started to speak however whatever he said, Jongdae didn’t know; he and Sehun were only able to catch Chanyeol's worrisome response.

“Hyung...slow down...you’re at the police station but I thought you were supposed to be with Baekhyun all da....wait...what do you mean you don’t know where Baekhyun is...no I haven’t heard from him since yesterday...”

No.

No, this couldn’t be real. He started to shake and sweat violently as cold, horror engulfed his body, leaving him stranded in an ocean of misery. 

_You’re overreacting…_ No.

No, he wasn’t.

Their manager wouldn’t just go to the police station if he believed Baekhyun got ‘lost’ on his way back from the bathroom- _Shit.. was this the reason, Baek didn’t pick up his phone._

He could hear Sehun mutter ‘no’ over and over again, his head nestled into his knees as he rocked back and forth.

Jongdae was going to force his unsteady legs over to comfort the poor maknae but he never got the chance before a knock resounded from the door. A man in what seemed to be his early forties slipped through and bowed to the three distressed men in front of him. He was wearing a 2 piece black suit matched with a white shirt and burgundy white spotted tie. The thing which stood out however was the gun holster strapped to his hip, peeking from behind his suit jacket; making known that the man was some form of a police officer, adding more fuel to the fire that was Jongdae’s anxiety.

“Gentlemen, My name is Agent Jung with the NIS. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.” The Detective asked, after briefly showing his credentials to the three idols, his eyes filled to the brim with honest sincerity.

Jongdae politely nodded on behalf of the others, with Chanyeol still reeling from his hysterical call and Sehun on the edge of a mental breakdown; he was the only one left with any sanity. 

“When was the last time you were in contact with either of the following: Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, Lee Taemin, and Byun Baekhyun ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the nice responses so far on this work.  
> Okay, so the next few chapters are the other members' reactions to the kidnappings. Now I believe the NIS (National Intelligence Service) is like the Korean equivalent of the FBI but I'm not entirely sure so if I'm wrong please let me know. Having the NIS is legit just because I've become obsessed with Criminal Minds lately since I'm rewatching the entire show in lockdown.
> 
> If anyone has ever watched Criminal Minds, I'm kind of portraying Jung as a mix of Gideon and Hotch but if you haven't it's not important to the story in any way.


	5. TAEIL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aftermath part 2

Taeil was the eldest.

He was the members’ comfort blanket; shielding and comforting them with his warm and soft hugs.

He was their portable human battery pack, always nearby to recharge them after a long, tiring day.

But this problem wasn’t one he could sweep under the rug, with a few consolable words or a hug. It was much bigger than that.

Scarier than that.

Someone- some malevolent, malicious monster- had ripped Taeyong and Mark away from them by causing a car accident that had left their Manager with a fractured arm, broken ribs, punctured lung, and more hospital jargon that he brain couldn't process. He didn’t want to think of the damage that kind of accident would have caused to the two idols also in the car.

At least he knows they are still alive.

That one idea was the only thing keeping him sane throughout all this.

_ But they're still living in hell. _

“The doctor said the surgery was a success, Jaehyun is with him right now.” 

Taeil was in the kitchen on the 10th floor, where 127 and Dream had respectively both taken refuge in for safety. He was pacing up and down the length of the room, phone tightly clutched to his ear, seeking any- _ even if it was only a little- _ information from Johnny.

When the news got out about car accident and police contacted them about the disappearance; it was decided between the two of them that Johnny would go to the hospital to check on

Youngjae hyung while he’d stay to take care of the younger members and consequently have to break the news to Dream.

The hardest thing he’s done in his entire life.

“How’s Jaehyun doing ?” Taeil asked, already having a faint idea on what his answer would be just by the long pause Johnny made.

“I don’t know, he’s barely said anything since we left the dorm; I can tell he’s a mess although.” 

_ Weren’t they all. _

However, it was different for Jaehyun while he and the others were sacred for their older/ younger brother’s life. Jaehyun was worried about his brother and the love of his life- _or whatever their relationship was_. Jaehyun and Taeyong’s relationship was complicated, to say the least, but it had become an unspoken thing all 21 members were aware of. They never came out saying they were officially in a relationship to them- _maybe it’s because they didn’t even know what they were_ _themselves-_ but one day they all could tell something had occurred to shift the two from friends to more in a short space of time.

“Heard anything from WayV ?” Johnny queried.

“Their plane landed an hour ago so they should be here any minute.” 

Taeil’s aching legs, weak from all the jittery pacing he’d been doing for nearly an hour, collapsed in one of the dorm’s dining chairs, the old wood creaked under his sudden weight. It just reminded him that Taeyong, Yuta, and Jungwoo had planned to go to Ikea to get some new furniture- _ fuck that was only a few days ago. _

“You know a small part of me wishes they already knew just to spare the pain of having to tell them but...”

He didn’t mean to unload on his dongsaeng so abruptly but the bitter words spilled out of his mouth involuntarily. He instantly felt a twinge of regret that he did so, it was his responsibility to be there for them.

Nevermind the agonising pain poisoning his heart. 

They needed him 

Especially now with their Leader in the wind.

“But it’s better, morbidly better but still better, to hear it from us.” Johnny finished.

Taeil heard a tiny sniffle resound through the phone which added to infinite misery inside of him. It also added to the burning anger brewing inside of him; Taeil was never the one to be quick to anger but if he was ever in the same room as one of these villains, he can’t say he wouldn’t try to snap their neck.

“We should be back soon, we still need to go and check on Jongin hyung. I think Sehun hyung and Chanyeol hyung are still with him.” Johnny informed me.

While drowning in your own grief, it was easy to forget it wasn’t just him and his group suffering the same cruel fate. The same monsters had also taken Taemin and Baekhyun and made more casualties. The prime one being Jongin sunbaenim-  _ he wasn’t as comfortable as the others to call him hyung yet _ . All he knew was that he’d been shot, the police weren’t exactly keen on telling them every little specific thing that happened.

Except for Agent Jung, even with his cold, stoic demeanor, there was something comforting about the older man. It helped to show Taeil that he actually cared about his job and wanted to get his friends back as much as he did. Truthfully it seemed the NIS cared more than the police to him.

With a promise to call, once he and Jaehyun were in the car, Johnny ended the call, leaving Taeil to his own thoughts. He had the unusual urge to bash his head against his phone- _ maybe that'd cure the neverending, mindless throbbing in his head or it’d wake him from this nightmare. _

He was strangely considering it until the blaring of the TV from the living room interrupted.

In the living room were Yuta, Jungwoo, Chenle, Donghyuck, and a couple of others, mainly Agent Jung and some of his team- _ which he’d forgotten the names of, he had slightly more pressing issues at the moment. _ The said members were scattered across various pieces of furniture in the room, lying there as if all life had been drained out of them. Some were staring off into space with vacant eyes while others were fixated to the TV.

Which was where their other problem laid- _ the the world didn’t want them to have anything good left. _

_ “Breaking news. It has just been revealed that the SM idols: Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, Lee Taemin, and Byun Baekhyun have all been reported missing-” _

Someone had leaked it to the press-more notably dispatch- about the disappearances; it was unknown from where, it could have been from inside the police station or from SM, but nevertheless the damage had been done. The media knew which meant everyone in and out of the country knew, more specifically the respective groups’ fans.

The only thing not released was Jongin’s shooting which has been a silver lining, he could imagine the swarm of ‘fans’ crowding outside the hospital if that had been released as well.

_ “As of right now, the entertainment company SM or the police hasn’t issued an announcement concerning the investigation of the idols’ whereabouts and wellbeing-” _

Taeil couldn’t bear to hear anymore, he quickly snatched the remote, from where it had been carelessly thrown onto the sofa, and turned it off; startling Donghyuck whose glassy eyes had been glued to the repeated broadcast since it had first aired. This jostled Chenle, strewn across Donghyuck’s lap, but it seemed not to bother the young Chinese member; he was preoccupying his time, absently mindedly picking at Donghyuck’s ripped jeans.

“I want to strangle whoever leaked this,” Yuta growled, his teeth firmly clenched as did his fists. Taeil grimaced in sympathy for their armchair, the one bearing the brunt of Yuta’s understandable anger, “ How do we know, this won’t just make things worse ?”

“It might not, as a matter of fact.” One agent from Jung’s team chimed in. They had been in the dorm all day, setting up some contraption that would track the kidnappers’ location if they tried to call one of them. One agent tried to explain it to him; he didn’t care how it worked as long as it did its job.

The agent awkwardly coughed when all eyes whipped towards him, “Statically it is known that more than 80 % of perpetrators don’t call or make demands until 48 hours after the initial kidnapping. It’s used as a psychology weapon or scare tactic so they can bargain more from the victim’s family.”

“Basically the media being involved will accelerate their timeframe.” Agen Jung clarified, evidently seeing the confused frowns painted on all the idols' faces.

“And how is that good in any shape or form ?” Yuta bitingly scoffed.

Taeil was gearing up to scold his Japanese dongsaeng for his blatant rude attitude to the senior. Yuta had always been short-tempered especially when it came to the protection of his band members however it seemed like the disappearances had caused that short fuse to be continuously lit, burning anyone in its way. The only reason he didn't was that Jung stopped him, obviously familiar to this type of reaction.

“It’s good because the preparator will call much sooner than he or she anticipated. Now this reason may be to gloat or out of fear but either way it doesn’t matter. Them calling earlier gives us more information on who this individual is, why they are doing it, and where your members are.” Jung explained thoroughly.

“Also it means more eyes are out there looking for them,” The agent, from before, concurred, “NCT, EXO, SHINee, you’re all well-loved so the public will try and help the investigation as much as they can.”

Yuta’s anger shimmed down throughout both Agents’ explanations. Taeil could still see the blazing rage behind his eyes but instead of being a wildfire, it was now only a mere flame. It was blatantly clear all he wanted was information. 

They all did.

It didn’t matter if they were drowning in grief or burning in a blaze of anger; they all needed some information to cling onto, to keep them afloat.

“Yukhei just texted me, they’re on their way up,” Jungwoo informed, his timid voice reverberating across the tense room as he broke the news.

When the door finally opened revealing 7- 8 including their manager- equally puzzled men, Taeil never felt more thankful than in that moment. He darted across the room to pull the first member he saw - which just happened to be Sicheng- into a fierce hug. He felt Sicheng initially stiffened at the sudden, startling affection but Taeil ignored it. For the first time in what seemed centuries, Taeil relaxed because they were all here: Kun, Yukhei, Ten, Sicheng, Hendrey, Xiaojun, and YangYang. 

They were all here in one piece.

So he allowed himself to relax and melt into Sicheng even if it was only a brief moment. 

“Hyung, what’s going on ?” Sicheng concerningly asked, “Why are we here ?”

Taeil slowly pulled away from the younger Chinese member, he could see the rest of WayV poorly trying to cover up their own concern after receiving the same reception from the others in the room. Their concern only grew after Yuta stormed out after Sicheng’s question, muttering an “I can’t do this”.

He tried to tell them, truly did but any time he opened his mouth, all that came out was a teary-eyed stutter.

“Mar...Mark and Tae..yong…”

His saving grace was Agent Jung, who urged the Chinese band to sit down. They did as they were instructed cautiously, staring with wide-eyed curiosity at the stranger in 127’s dorm.

“My name is Agent Jung-”

Taeil closed his eyes as Jung told them the horrid truth. He despised that he wasn’t strong enough to tell them himself.

Wasn’t strong enough to save Mark or Taeyong.

With a heavy heart: he listened to Ten’s strangled high pitched sobs; Yukhei‘s hyperventilating caterwaul mixed with Kun’s teary-eyed reassures; Sicheng’s blubber of questions. He didn’t hear anything from the maknae line but he knew they’d be sharing the same excruciating ache as the rest of them, even having not known Mark and Taeyong as long as they did. That wasn’t their fault, however.

Every sob, wail, cry, and howl shook through his very soul. He was breaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

“Oh..my..god...”

Taeil’s eye flung open at the sound of Jungwoo’s broken gasp. The said boy was holding his phone shakingly in his hand, heaving air in and out of his lungs at an alarming rate. 

And Taeil understood why he was because as clear as day, on the phone it read...

_ Minhyung calling... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the warm response this work is getting. I never expected this much love for it so quickly.   
> I've decided to write a list of the manager just in case people get confused because some will play a bigger role later on in the work.  
> Yongjae- NCT (mainly 127)  
> Junyoung - NCT/SUPERM  
> Daesung - SHINEE  
> WooJin- EXO   
> Gengxin- WAYV


	6. TAEYONG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is honor of Lee Taeyong because Bubu is amazing and deserves all the love in the world.

“Mark, stop. It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore .”

Okay, that was a big fat lie, everything hurt. His whole body had been blazing with white-hot pain since the moment he woke up to their nightmare but he couldn’t tell Mark that.

The poor boy had been furiously swatting away his never-ending tears since Taeyong regained consciousness; his trembling hands had been hovering over Taeyong’s prone body trying to do something to help him, to the point he was carelessly ignoring his own wounds.

To be more specific Mark’s hands were primarily hovering over his right leg.

Taeyong knew his leg was in bad shape, he didn’t even have to look to know that. If the feverous throbbing circling his leg didn’t say anything; Mark’s face did. The young Candian eyes kept drifting worryingly to it every few seconds but he didn’t want to look at it because he knew the minute he did, the pain would become ten folds worse.

“Maybe... I could stabilise it….” Mark muttered to himself, gnawing anxiously on his already bloodied lip.

“Minhyung !”

Mark’s entire body flinched at his sudden shout; he felt a twinge of guilt for doing so when Mark’s blotched eyes, paired with tear-stained cheeks, met Taeyong’s own chestnut eyes. However it was for his own good, they both couldn’t afford the Candian to start hyperventilating.

“Focus, okay,” Taeyong ordered, entering automatic leader mode, “I need you to check my leg out, see if it’s broken.” 

Taeyong tightly closed his eyes, his jaw set in a permanent grimace, as the younger rapper tenderly poked and prodded at his wounded leg. He knew Mark was trying his best though; none of them, including himself, had been trained to deal with this kind of scenario and why they should be. It’s not like this was a normal, everyday occurrence for them.

“ I think it’s your knee, there’s a lot of bruising and swelling around that bit but I.... don’t know if it’s... broken or…”   
  


“Mark, it’s okay. You did good” Taeyong assured the boy. He knew those were signs that some part of his leg could be broken but he was praying to any god, deity, or higher being out there it wasn’t.

It went quiet after that to the point, Taeyong closed his eyes, his head sinking further into Minhyung’s lap, where it was cushioned. If it wasn’t for the loud buzzing of the van’s engine; he could almost imagine he was at the dorm with the rest of the members, all together, late at night, watching a movie cuddled next to Jaehyun.

But he wasn’t…

He was in the back of a van that could be driving to their inevitable death. That thought alone chilled the blood in his veins; he couldn’t let that happen, even if he was incapacitated with his knees. He couldn’t let it happen to Mark

“Minhyung…”

His whispered call snapped the boy’s drifting, glassy eyes back to their blood-curdling reality. He could just make out his ashen face littered with a multitude of jagged cuts and black bruises under the minimal lighting. It seemed like that, coupled with a nasty knock to the head and a few bruised ribs were the magnitude of Mark’s injuries.

“If you get the chance, I need you to make a run for it.” Taeyong asserted, choking back the weakness in his voice, “You run and you don’t look back until you are safe.” 

“What ?” Mark breathily gasped, the said breath short and sharp showing his pain was swiftly rising again, “I can’t do that… you can’t ask me to do that.” 

“Remember what you heard, these guys could have Taemin, maybe more, and we don't know what kind of state they’re in.” Taeyong beseeched, “promise if you get the chance, you’ll do it.”

“I...I-”

He hoped Mark was going to promise but he’ll never get to know because the van ceased. To harsh standstill. If he wasn’t focused on the pounding of his heart, he may have noticed the dial-up in pain caused by the jostle and twisting of his already twisted knee.  _ The universe really didn’t like him at all. _

Where could they be? 

The harsh stop indicated tough terrain, nothing like the terrain they’d have in the city, so they were definitely not in Seoul anymore however that didn’t really minimise his list of places. They could be only an hour outside the capital or opposite the country in Daegu. It was hard to tell how long he and Mark had been unconscious for consequently impossible to estimate where they were.

“Hyung ?” Mark urgently hissed, “What do we do ?”

“Stay calm and don’t fight them, okay Mark ?” Taeyong entreated, shakingly reaching with a fragile hand to wipe away the tears leaking from the Candian’s eyes. The leader's heart happily soared when his younger brother instinctively leaned into his touch.

Their brotherly moment was interrupted however when the doors propelled open. 

Well, they must have not been driving for long because the full power of the sun emitted inside the van, showing it was still midday. It took a few seconds and a myriad of excessive blinking for his eyesight to adjust to the sudden stimuli.

In that short amount of time, the two men- _ more like monsters _ \- took prime advantage of their vulnerability. Taeyong grunted slowly when his head smacked against the cold, steel vehicle as Mark’s legs were dragged away from underneath him. 

He shouted the rapper’s name; reaching for his body but he only got a pinch of his clothes due to their captures being too agile and strong for him- _especially in his weakened state_.

“STOP, MARK-GAH !”

Taeyong screamed.

Screamed volumes he never knew his voice could reach before.

One of the men had scrambled inside the van, the entire vehicle jerking under the sudden increase of weight, and grabbed Taeyong’s legs- _ which includes his injured one- _ to drag the idol out.

It felt like every muscle, ligament, and bone in his leg was being forcibly twisted simultaneously. It was unbearable, nothing like the pain a few moments ago. In the van; the two were trying their best to keep his leg immobile but these guys obviously didn’t care about his wellbeing.

He thought he could hear Mark cry out his name but it was scarcely audible; his mind was too shambled to comprehend it-  _ he couldn’t even get his eyes to focus, it was all blurred. _

“I’m okay” He mouthed in the direction he assumed Mark was in. When his sight finally returned to what it was; he could see Mark encased in one of the capture’s hands, preventing him from making a run for it, while the two bickered to themselves. Taeyong’s torture must have traumatised him immensely, evident by the freshly painted tears. He felt guilty that he allowed Mark to see his brief moment of weakness; his dongsaeng needed to see his leader calm and collected, not a mewling mess.

"Shit"

"What ?"

"Look, his leg. The boss wanted them in one piece"

"Screw the boss, this is what happens when you hit someone with a car."

" Still-"

"It's just his leg as far I care that's in one piece."

_ Breathe, Taeyong... Breathe… _

However, that thought escaped him quite quickly when he suddenly found himself being roughly thrown over someone’s shoulder in a fireman hold. He grunted as his head smacked against the guy’s broad back but he guessed he should be grateful- _ only the tiniest bit, they still fucking kidnapped them _ \- that he was off his leg. From where he was, all he could see for miles and miles were towering, vast trees which seemed to never stop, and a stereotypical cabin, they were slowly approaching.

If it wasn’t for the deadly circumstances, Taeyong would have deemed it a nice, secluded place. He could imagine him and Jaehyung coming up here for a romantic weekend because the valentine boy was an ‘unbearable’ hopeless romantic.

Once inside, he barely had the chance to inspect the interior before ascending deeper into the cabin’s basement- _ wow they’re really clinging to the stereotypes here. _

If there was the slightest chance of Mark escaping, it swiftly dissipated.

Inside, the cabin had the faint impression it was on the brink of being luxurious, definitely flaunting that the woodland building cost big bucks to rent- _ nevermind buy _ . The basement was a different matter, however. While the topside had a rustic aesthetic; the basement was just stone.

Stone walls.

Stone ceiling.

Stone floor.

Despite having no furniture, only a few empty, cobweb ridden sleeves scattered loosely around; the basement wasn’t that big, probably the size of their 10th-floor dorm’s living room. Perfect to view a small group of people simultaneously.

Taeyong’s heart sank, drowning in the depths of his stomach as his eyes coming to the other two captives 

Taemin. Baekhyun.

His two beloved hyungs were kneeling on their floor with their hands tightly bound in front of them. Both of them had clenched jaws, hands fisted, and burning anger in their red teary eyes; the anger only seemed to increase when seeing the two NCT members.

Taeyong gave them a timid, reassuring smile, seeing them worryingly look at him- _ practically identical to the one Mark had been giving him-  _ after letting out a harsh hiss when he was dropped gracelessly onto the hard rock floor next to them, with Mark joining him after a curt order.

His two hyungs looked in good physical condition, compared to him and Mark. The only one who looked disheveled was Taemin. His mouth was reddish and raw at the edges, suggesting he’d been gagged for a long period of time. It was the same with his hands. Baekhyun’s weren’t, however, suggesting he had just been bound recently.

With all 4 of them lined up in a pretty little row, he had a perfect view of each of their captures but more importantly, they did as well.

“Gentlemen, Welcome”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank guys again for the amazing response. I did want to get into the call straight away but I wanted a chapter with Taeyong's POV as soon as possible but believed the call would best be suited in Mark's POV so I decided to just do them both as separate chapters, Sorry.
> 
> I had a bit of tough time writing this chapter for some reason so I hope you all like it.


	7. MARK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise phone call

_ Welcome to hell more like. The way he’s talking sounds like we signed up to be here. _

It seemed like a similar thought was being shared by his hyungs; by glancing at the obvious disbelieving looks on their faces.

“Now as long as you cooperate with us.” The man, Mark could only assume to be the boss of the entire operation, informed, “Nothing bad will happen to you.”

In the corner, he could hear Taemin scoff at the irony dripping from the armed boss’ tongue. Maybe if Mark shared the same confidence as his hyung, he might have done the same however the fear storming inside him was too paralyzing; he couldn’t even twitch muscle nevermind openly antagonise them.

“Is that right ?” Baekhyun fumed, seething with vengeful intent “so what to tell me what exactly happened to Mark and Taeyong then.”

_ Woah _

Mark had always viewed his hyung as a loveable, slightly awkward at times person; someone who went out of his way to make them have a good laugh no matters the situation, whether it’s a practice, music shoot, or a concert. That’s not to say his hyung couldn’t be serious, he had seen Baekhyun serious, countless times especially when it was associated with his work. But the tone in his voice, the sheer hatred, was never something he thought he would hear from him.

_ But guess if there was a time for it, it would be now. _

“That was a mere miscalculation.” Boss excused, poorly concealing his brewing anger at Baekhyun talking back. His eyes flickered to his ‘henchmen’ behind him, glaring at them; Mark could faintly recall their argument from before about the boss not being happy about the state Taeyong would be in but then again Mark had much more pressing issues at the time.

Mark internally shivered. He did not need to go down memory lane and relive that.

“A miscalculation, how the fuck is that a miscalculation.” Taemin retorted, pointing - _ well what seemed to be pointing, couldn’t really tell with his hands bound-  _ at Taeyong’s leg.

“I’d watch your tone if I was you.” One of the henchmen, Mark didn’t recognise, threatened. 

However, that mustn't have fazed Taemin because the next thing he did in an act of defiance- _ or stupidity-  _ was spit at the floor in front of the guy. 

Let’s just say he wasn’t exactly happy about that because the next thing Mark knew, the guy was suddenly advancing on him.

“Taemin.”Baekhyun practically squeaked as they all watched the guy slap the dancer with such ferocity, Taemin’s face jerked to the side. Mark flinched as the sound echoed throughout the dust-ridden basement- _ in the corner of his eye, he could see Taeyong do the same. _

However the guy didn’t stop there; he tightly grasped a fistful Taemin’s hair so the idol was facing him and pulled something- _ Mark couldn’t really see it, Taeyong was blocking his view- _ out of his back pocket.

“Talk again and I’ll slit your throat from ear to ear.” Mark could faintly hear him hiss into his hyung’s ear.

_ Shit... he had a knife… _

The knife was only slightly bigger than a normal pocket knife, seen in many tourist shops nonetheless it didn’t stop the rapper’s stomach plummeting and his heart leap achingly seeing it against Taemin’s throat.

“That’s enough, Changwoo.” The boss nonchalantly commanded like he couldn’t care less if the crazed man slit Taemin's throat or not. 

It just reminded him how powerless they were. These people could torture- _ physically or emotionally-  _ and they wouldn’t care in the slightest. He and the others were here for their convenience.

They were only tools in their master plan

“Now we have your full, undivided attention ”

And just like that, he continued like nothing had happened, confirming Mark’s own existential crisis.

“You will follow our instructions and once your company pays up. We will let you go.” The boss said, staring each and every one of them in the eye, showing the dominance and power he had over everyone in the room _. _

The way he said it, made it sound so easy.

He abruptly snapped back to reality when a small notebook tumbled to the ground in front of him, hitting the top of his muddy trainer. Feeling sick to his stomach, he slowly reached over to grab it; the notebook violently vibrating from the ever-present shake in his hands. He had a rotten feeling that he wouldn’t like whatever was in this notebook.

“You will read the message inside, word for word,” The boss directed, calm and confident but also showing hidden sinister meaning in his eyes, scarily directed towards Mark specifically, “or else….”

Suddenly, with only a single glance, one of the guys roughly grabbed Baekhyun off the floor, away from them.

He could hear Taeyong gasp while Taemin yelled something more profane-  _ something along the lines of ‘son of a bitch’-  _ but Mark didn’t say anything. 

Maybe it was due to shock or just plain old fear.

He couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

All he did was stare at Baekhyun as the said leader tried to wiggle, pull, and fight against the man holding him in a strong grip.

“I’ll get Kyungho here to give your hyung a nice set of scars.”

They didn’t even need to brandish a weapon near his hyung; collectively he and the others knew they were serious about their threat and would deliver their promise without hesitance.

He didn’t snap out of the turmoil storm brewing in the shambles of his mind until Changwoo shoved a very recognisable android phone inches away from his face. A clear confirmation when the familiar lock screen, picture from NCT 127 first concert in Seoul, flashed briefly on the screen.

“Password ?” He grunted, spittle disgustingly projecting from his mouth onto Mark’s face. However Mark, for the life of him, couldn’t fathom the answer, like all sense and reality had disappeared and made him a bumbling idiot. He could clearly see Changwoo get agitated about his lack of response but still, nothing came out, the words were stuck in the back of the throat; all he could stutter out was a broken “It’s...It’s”

“Try 20160409. It’s our debut date.”

Mark had to suppress the urge to release a heavy breath out of relief combined with a cry of ‘Thank you’ when he heard Taeyong softly utter his password. He didn’t care how his hyung figured out his password; he’s just enterally grateful he did because he didn’t want to think what may have happened to him- _ or worse Baekhyun hyung-  _ if he didn’t.

As Changwoo inputted the right password, singing mocking praise; Mark took the chance to check up on the NCT Leader. Taeyong was blankly staring at his right leg with glassy eyes, his breathing quiet but sluggish as if he just completed an intense dance practice. His mind couldn’t erase Taeyong’s screams, from when they pulled him out of the van. He had seen his hyung in pain before: a cut from a kitchen knife; a pulled muscle in practice or a sudden stub of a toe. It was different back there though, it was almost animalistic and primal.

Something he never thought he’d see- _ and never wanted to see again-  _ from his kind, considerate hyung, who babied his younger members to death or drop anything he’s doing to pet a random dog on the street _ -he had seen that too many times while they were shopping together. _

It was a few moments later until Changwoo turned his attention back to him, the phone still clutched in his hand as it blasted out the automated ringing noise. 

_ Oh god, he was calling someone… _

_ But who… _

His gut instinct knew it would be one of his hyungs from NCT. He didn’t have anyone from SHINee- _ except Taemin’s, phone numbe _ r -and only a few numbers from EXO- _ Sehun, Chanyeol, Jongin, Baekhyun, and Minseok _ .

He caught a glimpse of the name plastered on the screen, it read ‘ _ Jungwoo’  _ above the contact photo of his hyung which he took when they went to celebrate his first comeback after his hiatus.

“...Minhyung-ah ?”

Mark’s heart painfully stuttered to stop when Jungwoo’s quivering, quaking voice emitted from the phone. Next to him, he heard Taeyong let out a wet, ragged breath, sharing the same anguish as Mark at hearing his other band member.

“H...Hyung ?”

Wincing as his voice cracked on the simple endearment, Mark attempted to clear his throat so he could plough on through their captures’ message laying in his hands. He ignored the excessive trembling in his hand; the streaks of water flowing slowly from his black eyes; and his rapid breathing. He wasn’t going to give them a reason to hurt Baekhyun.

However, he wasn’t given a chance before Jungwoo started to spew out a flurry of questions that his shattered brain could only barely comprehend.

“Are you okay ?”

“Is Taeyong hyung, Baekhyun sunbaenim, and Taemin sunbaenim with you ?”

“Are they okay ?”

Jungwoo may have said more but he blanked out the rest as soon as he heard a sharp hiss from Baekhyun. Kyungho had wrapped a meaty arm around Baekhyun’s small, thin neck, restricting his air supply; his face a mixture of ashen white blushed with specs of red as his mouth gaped open widely, his lungs fighting and struggling to get the required oxygen. His hands were scrambling, scratching, scraping at Kyungho’s arm while his legs flailed in all directions on the floor 

It was a clear message to him that he was taking far too long. Hurryingly, Mark flipped through the notebook to find the right page and read what was on it, interrupting Jungwoo's panicked ramble. 

“To SM entertainment. As of right now, we have 4 of your artists in our possession. As long as our demands are met precisely, no further intentional harm shall come to them.”

Mark had to fight the urge to scoff, replaying what Baekhyun-hyung had said earlier about him and Taeyong. They made out, the car accident was a small incident when in fact  _ it was a fucking car accident  _ and they could have killed them both.

While Mark was reading, Kyungho had started to loosen his arm around Baekhyun. The said singer heaved a long, hoarse gasp which quickly turned into an explosion of coughs. 

“This Friday, you will place a plain black duffel bag filled with 8 billion won next to the Han river…”

8 billion?

Are you fucking kidding me?

SM was a big company, it was famously known as one of the ‘Big 3’ alongside JYP and YG. They could have that kind of money stashed away somewhere nevertheless would SM risk bankruptcy just to get 4 artists out of around 150- _ more if we count trainees-  _ back. The answer was a definite no. 

These men were asking for too much and they probably knew it too.

“These notes must not be marked, new or have consecutive serial numbers and the drop must be made by….EXO’s Oh Sehun at exactly 7 pm”

His ears picked up Baekhyun’s soft, horrible sob at the mention of his maknae being dragged into this nightmare. Mark could understand the pain and anguish he must have been feeling at that very moment; he imagined he would be feeling the same if it was Jisung or Chenle put in that situation.

“This drop must be made alone. If there are any police, NIS, or government authority in the area; If there is any trap, such as explosives or tracking devices, placed in the duffel bag. If nobody shows up then…”

Thick, burning bile shot up from his stomach to his throat as he read what the message said next. The gory images already establish a hold in his brain. They couldn’t expect him to read those cruel words aloud.

“We will shatter every single bone in both of Lee Taemin-ssi's legs. We will rip out Byun Baekhyun-ssi’s vocal cords. We will burn Lee Taeyong-ssi’s face until it melts off; and we will cut every finger slowly and painfully from both of Mark Lee’s hands.”

He just kept going.

Ploughing through the hair-raising, bloodcurdling text.

He couldn’t risk them harming Baekhyun-hyung again- _ but did it even matter when they promised to do all this shit to them. _

So he ignored Taeyong’s dripping tears, Taemin’s teary-eyed muttered curses, Baekhyun’s continued sobs, Jungwoo’s sharp intake of breath, and his own restless, pounding heart.

“However that won’t happen if we believe our demands are met; we can walk away and pretend none of this happened…. See you this Friday.”

“Mark, wai-”

At the familiar beep, signaling the end of the call, he finally allowed himself to breathe normally as he wiped away the remaining snort, and tears still smeared on his face.

With another wordless interaction with the boss, Kyungho immediately unlatched his arms from around Baekhyun, making the singer drop gracelessly on the hard stone floor.

“A 10/10 performance Mark, very good.” The boss praised Mark as if he had just performed on stage for him and not read a very traumatising note on the phone to one of his hyungs.

Mark wasn’t a violent person, he hated any kind of confrontation and was someone who purposely tried to avoid it however he wanted to crawl out his eyes.

Make him suffer like they were doing 

And that want scared him more than anything.

“I suggest all of you make yourself comfortable, you’ll be here a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading this chapter. I feel like there's been a massive pause since the last update but the UK suddenly got hit with a heatwave so it's been a bit hard to write recently in the heat, thankfully it's died down a bit for now. Also, I've been a little down lately because of all the things to do with Taeyong appearing again however thankfully that's been resolved and he's taking to the time to focus on his mental health.  
> I decided to make the ransom 8 billion won because that's roughly 5 million pounds; I was originally going to do 10 but I thought that was too unrealistic.
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter x


	8. JUNMYEON

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We Are One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAEYONG !!!!!  
> (Also in case of any confusion, Koreans register newly born babies as 1 year old so that's why Chen's daughter is 1 year old )

Junmyeon was the type of person who could sleep anywhere, it didn’t matter whether it was in a concert arena during rehearsal or in the middle of a cart race- _ the members still haven’t let him live that one down.  _ However this time he couldn’t.

Maybe it was because of: the hard, uncomfortable plastic hospital chair digging sharply into his back; or the ever-present beeping sound coming from Jongin’s heart machine; or the stress consuming his entire being. It could be a mixture of all three.

He was tired, don't get him wrong; every passing minute his head was sinking to his chest, his eyes were drifting shut but anytime he thought he’d start sinking into the black void called sleep, a sudden shot of adrenaline would abruptly kick into him. Waking him up once again.

He must have been successfully pulling off the illusion of sleep ,nonetheless, because no one had commented on his internal conflict.

“Yeah, I’m still here...He still hasn’t woken up...no, I’m not alone...I’m not sure...I know, I know...”

Through his half-closed eyes, Junmyeon could see faintly Jongdae pacing up and down in front of Jongin’s bed, phone clutched in one hand while the other was pressed tightly to his temples, massaging away an oncoming headache. His dongsaeng looked tired, something that had become a permanent fixture on the younger’s face since the last time Junmyeon had seen him, the day of his enlistment. They were two types of tired though; Before it was due to physical exhaustion from the struggles of being a new parent, now it was emotional from the ever-present anxiety consuming all of them.

“I’ll see you soon, Love you both.”

“Are they both okay ?”

A pang of guilt rushed through Junmyeon, seeing Jongdae leap across the room at the sudden sound of his hoarse voice. He must have really believed he was asleep.

Hand still clutched to his chest in shock, Jongdae answered with a hint of incredulous, “ They’re both fine.Have you been awake this entire time?"

“Yeah,” Junmyeon sighed, harshly rubbing both his bloodshot eyes, “I just can’t seem to turn my brain off, I guess.”

“Maybe it’s the chair,” Jongdae wearily jokes, “I’d offer you the sofa but its kind of occupied.” 

They both turned towards the sofa which Yixing had taken residence in. Junmyeon let out a quiet chuckle seeing the Chinese member’s tall figure strewn over the narrow, well-worn sofa, limbs in all directions; mouth slightly parted allowing a small streak of drool to leave and land on the sofa’s lumpy, brown cushions. The poor man had dropped everything in a mad rush, once the news hit him, packed his essentials and got on the first flight to Korea; he didn’t even take the time to drop off his suitcase which was still propped up next to the door.

“Leave him, looks like he needs it more than me.”

It was probably a solid good ten minutes before any of them talked again. Jongdae had taken the time to sit in the other chair, on the opposite side of Jongin’s bed; He had taken to stare at the young dancer’s deathly, pale face with a solemn look while combing his elegant hands through Jongin’s matted brown curls however Junmyeon could see his eyes, now and then, drift back to his phone, still in hand, like he was debating to text someone.

Junmyeon could only guess, someone being his wife.

“You should go home.”

“What ?” Jongdae sputtered in confusion however it became quickly clear to him what Junmyeon meant when his own eyes drifted to Jongdae’s phone, “She’s fine with me staying here.”

“Your family needs you more.” He stubbornly argued back.

It was easy to forget sometimes that Jongdae had a family, a wife and a daughter he needed to provide for. It seemed like only yesterday, it was the 9 of them altogether trying to survive comeback after comeback. It was testament to how old all of them were.

Jongdae needed to go home, he had bigger priorities than staying vigilant next to Jongin’s bed all night.

The younger singer opened his mouth as if he was going to openly object with Junmyeon but changed his mind last minute, “Okay but only for a few hours, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” He yielded sighing.

Junmyeon half-smiled _ -a bit crooked and malformed but it was all he could muster-  _ at Jongdae crouching in front of the sofa, tentatively waking Yixing up with a tiny shake and a quiet whisper of ‘Hyung ?’. Unbelievably it worked.

“Hmm...Dae ?” Yixing groggily slurred, taking his time to shift himself upwards.

“Hey,” Jongdae breathed, “I’m heading off home for a bit”

Yixing leaped to his feet, still half asleep with dry drool smeared on his face, and pulled the younger member into a bone-crushing hug so tight, Jongdae was nearly lifted straight off his feet.

“You could come if you wanted,” Jongdae offered, “You haven’t had the chance to meet her yet, in real life.”

Unfortunately, when Jongdae’s daughter was born, Yixing couldn’t meet her with the rest of them- _ along with Minseok and Kyungsoo- _ since the Chinese member seems to always be working nowadays so the most they could do was facetime him while they were there. It might have been a good thing, they weren't there; he didn’t want to imagine the stress the nurses would be under trying to control 9 of them- _ they could barely cope with 6 of them. _

“It’s fine, I’m going to stay here for a while longer,” Yixing dismissed, poorly concealing his worry for Junmyeon which he easily caught when his eyes shifted to him while he was talking, “I’ll come over soon, It’ll finally give me a chance to give her all the gifts I’ve got her.”

“I swear she’s going to be the most spoiled 1-year-old in the world and that’s because of Jongin and Chanyeol alone.”

Junmyeon could attest to that, he’d seen the mountain of gifts the two considerate idiots brought for newly born baby- _ seriously what 1-year-old needs a 5ft teddy bear. _

Before leaving, Jongdae sank to his knees and pulled the EXO leader into a warm, bear hug, similar to Yixing’s,like he was made of fragile glass. 

“You’re my family too” The younger man whispered into his ear. At those words, Junmyeon felt an overwhelming feeling to suddenly break down in tears however he choked them back and just nodded in Jongdae’s shoulder, body slightly trembling.

Yixing heavily collapsed in the, now vacant, hospital chair once Jongdae had left. He reached over to hook a stray strand of Jongin’s hair behind his ear; his hand lingering briefly to softly stroke Jongin's dull cheek.

“Has the doctor said anything new ?” Yixing gingerly queried, eyes never straying from Jongin.

“ They said his fever went down a bit. It’s still too high for them to take him off of the medication though.” Junmyeon managed to ground out, his voice cracking in the middle combined with hitched breaths. He was crumbling at the seams and it was plainly obvious to everyone that he was.

Yixing hummed in response; he was absent-mindedly playing with Jongin’s long fingers while his free hand wiped away a bead of sweat on his forehead. The Chinese dancer had clung to the injured boy since arriving; it was like he was trying to reassure himself that he was still there with them, alive and breathing.

Junmyeon understood though; they’d all been clinging to each other since 2 of their members had been ripped away from them. It just made letting one another go even harder.

“You’re hiding something.” Yixing pointed out, “It’s written all over your face Junmyeonie.”

And there it was.

The real issue eating him up inside.

The reason he couldn’t get to sleep and his eye bags had started to develop their own eye bags.

“While you were asleep and Jongdae was out getting some coffee. Agent Jung called.”

He had to tell someone, it was killing him not to. If he did say it though, it just made it all so much more real but when did ignoring the problem do anyone any good. This inner conflict between himself had been going since the call happened and it bore no end in sight.

Junmyeon could tell Yixing was expecting some kind of resistance by the brief shock written on his face despite this ,however, he stayed quiet, listening to whatever Junmyeon had to say.

“Apparently the kidnappers contacted some of NCT, they’re asking for 8 billion won...and they want Sehunie to drop it off.”

More tears welled in his eyes as he choked out what happened but they never escaped. They just increased and increased inside their own watery prison. 

Yixing didn’t say anything, like before; the only reaction he gave was a slight tightening around Jongin’s hand. 

It had always been easier to talk to Yixing about his concerns. It’s not like he didn’t talk to the other members; it was just easier to express them to the Chinese member. Maybe it was because Yixing would simply sit there and listen, never interrupt and try to solve the problem; he’d let him finish his sprew of words and then offer some heartfelt advice.

It was moments like those, he had truly missed in recent years without Yixing.

“Does he know ?” Yixing murmured.

“I’m not sure, Agent Jung said he’d personally tell Sehun himself. Something about having to legally tell him the risks and all that” Junmyeon informed, voice resembling Jongin, lacking all life.

When Junmyeon uttered those simple words; a small,greedy voice in his mind piped up once again.

He hated that voice...

He hated the words it was saying...

He hated that he was capable of having those thoughts in his head….

And mainly he hated imagining constant shrill screams that’d happen if what the voice said came true.

Junmyeon wondered if Yixing would hate him as well, if he told him what he was feeling.

“A part of me doesn’t want him to go,” Junmyeon sadly confessed, “Despite the horrific threats they made, I still selfishly don’t want him to do it.”

With those few words, it was out of the world and Junmyeon was sitting there waiting patiently for Yixing to spring to his feet and start screaming at him with blind hatred.

Except it never came.

“That’s not selfish, you don’t have a single selfish bone in your body” Yixing gently comforted, bearing his calm, caring demeanor entirely through his dusky eyes, “It’s okay you want to protect him and It’s okay you’re scared for him.”

He stressed every word, fighting tooth and nail to break down Junmyeon’s wall of self-doubt and  animosity. 

“These cruel people took Baekhyun ,shot Jongin and now it feels like we’re handing Sehun over to them, someone we’ve practically raised since the age of 14. However, I swear it’s not, because you, me, and everyone else is going to make sure nothing happens to him.”

All at once, Junmyeon felt the dam of tears, he was so desperately trying to hold back, break and flood his cheeks. Heart-breaking,involuntary sobs wailed out of him, only breaking so he could breathe since his nose was clogged up. 

He was a hysteric mess. So much he didn’t notice Yixing rushing over to him until he was right next to him 

“Come here” Yixing softly ordered, pulling him into a tender hug. Junmyeon immediately clung to him as if the Chinese man would crumble into bitter ash any minute.

“I want you to listen to me and ignore whatever stupid voice in your head is saying. None of this is your fault, there was nothing we could have done to stop this from happening.”

Yixing only slightly pulled back so he could hold the leader's face in the palm of his hands and look him dead in the eye, “We will get them back together and only together, you hear me. No more hiding.”

_ He’s lying _

But gazing into Yixing’s earnest, wet eyes showed he truly believed each and every word he was saying. 

And the first time since he heard the dreaded news, he felt a piece of shining bright hope seep back into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hoped you liked the chapter. I already have planned what's going to happen in the next few chapters so fingers crossed they'll come quickly like this one.


	9. JOHNNY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A somber night with cigarettes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few quick notes: so Sehun is older than Johnny but Johnny was born in February so I think that would technically class him as an early-born so many Koreans consider them like a year older. I'm unsure if Sehun does but in this he does; It is in Johnny's POV so Johnny calls Suho, Junmyeon, but he calls Jongdae, Chen, because I believe he'd be much closer with Junmyeon then Jongdae; and finally, it is to my best of knowledge that Sehun, Jongin, and Kyungsoo use to smoke however if people are uncomfortable with that then just don't read the chapter because I just wanted to have a chapter to capture Sehun's feelings basically.

Johnny had known Sehun for more than 10 years. He still vividly remembered the first time he met the older boy; He was struggling to find his way around the colossal, extravagant SM building barely knowing a coherent sentence of Korean when he literally bumped into him.

Sehun was always there for him throughout those long 8 years of training, constantly back and forth from Seoul to Chicago: he comforted him when he was terribly homesick; repeatedly, as much as he could, called and texted him while he was in Chicago; and he consoled him when they both realised they wouldn’t be debuting together.

Despite growing apart as time went on with Sehun debuting in EXO and Johnny becoming a full trainee at SM and eventually debuting in NCT; Johnny was never nervous or afraid about losing his friendship with Sehun because Sehun always made the effort to connect with him no matter what.

And that feeling stayed consistent until now.

As he knocked on Sehun’s bedroom door, a new, never felt before anxiety gnawed at his soul, making him ask, once again, why he was here.

_ “Please hyung, I just need to know.” _

_ “Jae, He’ll do it.” _

_ “But what if he doesn’t...I...I just need you to ask, you’ve known him the longest,...please…” _

_ “....okay…” _

In a moment of weakness, staring into Jaehyun’s distressed eyes, he promised the younger one he’d go and ask Sehun if he was going to go through with it and do the drop, and Johnny was only starting to regret it now.

When he did arrive at EXO’s dorm, it was surprisingly Minseok who answered, obviously pulled from the military like Kyungsoo, Junmyeon, and the rest of SHINee. Thankfully EXO’s eldest member wasn’t interested in any small talk about why he was there to see Sehun; he just let him in without a single word which Johnny was eternally grateful for because he had enough small talk for the day from all the agents in their dorm. 

“Sehun, it’s Youngho.” 

Immediately, once entering, the intense smell of cigarette smoke hit his nose and a waft of cold wind coming from the bedroom’s open window. Sehun was sitting sideways on his wide windowsill; back pressed against the wall and one hand up, bracing against the top of the window. The EXO member turned at the sound of his entrance; plucking the cigarette, hanging from his lips, easily with 2 fingers.

“I thought you quit,” Johnny said, talking about the man smoking, he quietly closed the door behind him and joined Sehun at the window. On closer inspection, he could see that Sehun wasn’t simply sitting on the windowsill, puffing out smoke into the dusk like he previously thought. While his right leg was propped up safely on the windowsill, his other leg was dangling dangerously over the ledge. It was such a precarious position that a simple, tiny gust of wind could blow him off and make him fall into the street below. That’s when Johnny realised that his free hand braced on the top of the window was actually there to make sure he wouldn’t fall off.

How he wasn’t afraid of falling, Johnny didn’t know and he wasn’t even that afraid of heights.

“I only do it when I’m stressed.” Sehun said, placing the cigarette back to his lips so he could take a deep drag before stubbing it on the ash-ridden windowsill “Don’t tell Junmyeon hyung.”

Johnny chuckled at the thought; he could imagine Junmyeon going full-on mum mode at Sehun and if he was anything like Taeyong, it would be accompanied by an hour-long rant about the dangers of smoking.

“Want one ?” Sehun offered Johnny as he pulled out another from his back pocket, Johnny didn’t want to assume how many he had gone through that night.

He politely declined; he had tried one before, back when he was in high school, and the burning, bitter aftertaste wasn’t something he wanted to relive. 

“I tried looking for you at the hospital but you had already left by the time I got there ” Johnny confessed, carefully planting himself on the edge of the windowsill next to him, keeping clear of the open window- _ he wasn’t looking for a death sentence. _

While Jaehyun had stayed at their manager hyung bedside; Johnny had ventured to Jongin’s hospital room to check on their sunbaenim. He hoped to see Sehun there as well however there was only Chen, Chanyeol, and Junmyeon.

“Yeah, I left with Minseok hyung, I needed some space to think,” Sehun said quietly, his mind somewhere else as he stared into the brightly lit neon street below him while he took another long drag of his cigarette. To Johnny’s surprise, he even subconsciously leaned out further to the point his head and torso were hanging out into the nothingness. If Johnny’s stomach wasn’t doing simultaneous flips before, they were surely doing them now.

“You know a few months ago, I would have done anything to have all of us together again but now..”

He never finished whatever he was going to bitterly say but Johnny completely understood because their own band had been through the same thing. With WayV in China, Mark and Taeyong having more and more schedules for SuperM, and rumors of another NCT unit on the way; it felt like the band was being ripped apart left, right and center. In recent years, it has become harder for them to even call each other, nevermind see each other.

There was a minute of silence as Johnny watched the older dancer take hit after hit of his cigarette, deliberately blowing the smoke out of the window so it wouldn’t go in Johnny’s face- _ not that the smoke immensely bothered him. _

“Why are you here, Youngho ?”

_ Shit _

Here it was. 

Should he tell him?

It’s not like he would be mad, they’ve had worse arguments throughout their long years of friendship so why did this, one conversation, make his stomach churn uncomfortably. Maybe because this was different than a normal argument about where to go get takeaway or whose the better dancer-obviously _ it was Sehun. _

This was life or death.

Sacrificing your own wellbeing for the people you care about. 

“You came to see if I’d go through with it, the drop” Sehun stated dryly, void of any emotion. 

Involuntarily Johnny stiffened when those words left Sehun’s mouth. Had he really come for just that; sure Jaehyun asked him to come but he could have easily lied to the younger man or just asked Agent Jung. It didn’t warrant an entire visit.

“Jaehyun asked me to come and see if you were,” Johnny confessed, seeing no reason to keep the truth from him, “But honestly I just came to see how you are.”

The look in Sehun’s eyes made him seem like he was miles away, not in front of him in EXO’s dorm. He took one last, long drag of his cigarette as if he was trying to breathe in more than smoke until the cigarette was burning low to the filter; clutching it tightly like it was his only lifeline. Once done, he ground it on the windowsill like before and flickered it out of the window however this time he didn’t reach for another.

“ I think my brain is still trying to comprehend it all.I'm a mixture of anger, numb, confused, and scared as shit. The scariest thing though is not I’m not scared for myself ”

Johnny had always prided himself for his ability to be a comforting shoulder to cry on, a good ear for listening and a sympathetic mouth that gave honest advice. He had always been there for people, whether as a hyung or dongsaeng, no matter what it was, time, or place.

However, for the first time in his life, he had nothing.

No genuine words or helpful advice.

He was completely blank.

“One move. One tiny mistake and that’s it, they’re gone and it’s going to be all my fault…”

He was barely focusing on Sehun’s words. All he could pay attention to was his chestnut eyes, the raw trauma, fear, and guilt in them for an action he hadn’t even committed yet.

“Maybe you don’t have to do it. They could use a lookalike or something…” Johnny tried to helpfully suggest. At the sight of Sehun’s sear pain, he felt his own eyes start to well up but he didn’t deserve to cry, not when it wasn’t him who was going through this immense dilemma.

“Someone did actually suggest that.” Sehun stated, his voice slowly drifting away at the end like he was contemplating the idea until he paused and physically shook himself away from the hypnotising thought, “no, no I can’t. Me and Agent Jung agreed it would be too risky. It has to be me but...I don’t think I’m strong enough.”

“Shut up”

In different circumstances, Johnny may have laughed at the startled face Sehun made at his unforeseen exclaim-  _ honestly, Johnny startled himself-  _ but he couldn’t listen to someone he cherished easily degrade themselves like they were a speck of dirt.

“You are so much stronger than you think. If I had gone through any of the shit you have been through, I probably would have shipped myself back to Chicago immediately. I know this is drastically different from a few hate comments on Twitter, a scandal leaked by Dispatch or a band member leaving but I know, in my heart truly, that if anyone had to do this successfully and come out the other end. It would be you.”

Tears were, now, falling thick and fast for both of them at Johnny’s heartfelt rant. But he couldn’t stop there so he clasped Sehun’s trembling hands with his own.

“And…” 

He internally grimaced at the tearful voice crack because he didn’t want to even imagine this being a possibility that could happen. Not for Mark, his younger brother in all but blood; Taeyong, his best friend who has countless times sacrificed his own health and wellbeing for his band members; and Taemin and Baekhyun, who have only ever been kind and caring sunbaenims to him.

“And if it doesn’t go right. Then it’s not your fault and the others, especially, won’t think it’s your fault. The only people at fault are these sadistic, emotionless psychopaths.”

A burning, familiar anger rose in him at the mention of these monsters however Johnny quickly stifled it deep down because that wasn’t what Sehun needed from him. The said man never responded to him but Johnny knew him too well, he didn’t need words to convey he understood Johnny. All he did was bring their clasped hands to his lips in a brief show of affection. 

And in that short moment, it was just them. Johnny almost forgot where he was and the cruel, horrid reason he was there. He only snapped back to reality when a loud knock echoed through the roughly silent room.

Minseok’s head popped out from the, now open, bedroom door. The smaller hyung eyes, bloodshot from- _ what johnny could only predict- _ his own crying session, sheepishly gazed at his two dongsaengs, remorseful he interrupted their private conversation.

“I’m sorry to intrude but Agent Jung is here to see you, Sehun.”

An almost child-like part of him didn’t want him to go and it must have been a shared feeling because Sehun turned to him with still-damp eyes and tenderly asked, “Will you stay ?”

Johnny vigorously nodded, walking out of the room with him, hand in hand, because it was now time for him to repay Sehun and be there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally !!!! I've been so busy lately that this has been sitting in my docs unfinished for a while but it kind of appropriate with the release of DJ Johnny's Sunny Side Up. I want to thank everyone who has been leaving such nice comments, I have read every single one and appreciate, and take in count, all of them.


	10. TAEMIN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One death warrant, please

When he was younger, Taemin was the type of person to overlook the simplest of things like a call to his family or a meal with his friends. It was hard not to, however, in the bustling life of an idol; always back and forth from an interview, recording, practice, and a concert, it was easy to be consumed by it all. It was only until recently did he try to stop and take the time to cherish things because he didn’t want to have any regrets.

But no matter how much you try, regrets and what-ifs are always lurking in the corner especially when you’re tied up in a dingy basement in the middle of nowhere.

_ He should have made more time with his family. _

_ He should have seen Moonkyu, Jimin, Wonsik, and Sungwoon more. _

_ He should have called Jinki and Kibum hyung more. _

_ He should have made up with Minho. _

“How’s your neck ?”

“For the thousands of times, it’s fine Taeyong. Stop fussing over me and focus on your leg”

Baekhyun's scolding voice roughly slapped Taemin back to their sinister reality. Said hyung was kneeled next to the injured NCT member checking his leg, the best he could with bound hands.

“What about you, Taemin-hyung. You were slapped pretty hard over there ” Taeyong worried, ignoring Baekhyun's blatant disappointment. If there was anything Taemin had learned about the younger member, he was annoyingly stubborn. Something that ran throughout their ‘Super’ group.

“I’m fine, I’ve had worse,” Taemin assured, standing behind Baekhyun. Back in the early days of SM, long before EXO or NCT, it wasn’t rare to get a push, slap or tug here and there from one of the executives _ \- thankfully SM sort have cleaned up there act-  _ so when  Changwoo slapped him, it didn’t phase him that much, “Baekhyun hyung right though, we should focus on your leg.”

“Finally, someone who listens to my words of wisdom,” Baekhyun briefly joked before turning serious and shifting focus back to matter at hand, “Alright, Mark was right. It's pretty badly swollen and bruised but until the swelling goes down, I don’t think we can try to tell if it’s broken or not.”

“How can we get it down.” Mark murmured, sat on the opposite side of Taeyong. The poor maknae had latched himself to Taeyong’s side, once their captures had bound his hands and left, and had refused to leave him. Something must have happened to make him worry about his fellow NCT member and Taemin could easily guess it had to do with Taeyong’s mangled leg.

“We need something cold, preferably something like an ice bag. But I doubt our lovely captures will give us something of that luxury.” Baekhyun explained with a healthy dose of sarcasm. 

_ An ice bag….huh... _

Taemin’s eyes slowly drifted to the bolted steel door separating them from salvation and with that single thought, he did something so reckless and stupid; he could already hear Kibum hyung berating voice tell him off.

He marched his way over to the door, tuning out Baekhyun’s hisses of ‘what...Taemin, stop’ and Mark’s audible gasps of shock. Taemin may have looked confident but inside was different; the excessive pounding of his heart was so loud, he couldn’t even hear his own feet hit the stone floor.

Taking one long breath in, Taemin braced himself for what very well could be his death warrant.

“HEY, JACKASSES. OPEN THIS DOOR RIG-”

Suddenly the door swung open, slamming against the bleak wall with such ferocity it made Taemin jump out of his skin. The doorway revealed Changwoo and Kyungho, who he could now vaguely remember being the same masked men from his apartment. 

It was strange despite being near both men before this, he never took the time to study the two men. Kyungho was the shorter of the two, only a couple of inches taller than Taemin; unlike his counterpart, he was on the thinner side but you could still easily tell he had a few muscles hidden underneath the layers of black clothes he was wearing- _ he was very much like Taemin in many ways.  _ Changwoo was the complete opposite: he was much taller-  _ so much he made Minho look small-  _ and was 99.9% muscle; so much his skin thinly stretched over every bicep showing off all his thin, blue veins.

However all that muscle was masked behind the most important thing, Changwoo was the one who shot Jongin.

“What ?” Changwoo gruffly grumbled, his seething anger pulsing out in waves towards Taemin.

As the man’s pitch-black eyes pierced his very soul, Taemin tired- _ and hopefully succeeded-  _ to turn his stifling fear into raw, blazing anger.

“Taeyong needs an ice pack for his leg,” Taemin stated defiantly, he knew he was pushing his luck with this but Taeyong needed it badly so he willingly put his head on the chopping block.

“Hm, does he now ?” Changwoo gibed, using his towering height to gaze at the younger rapper behind him, “Doesn’t look like it to me.”

Taemin had to restrain himself from growling at the man like a wild animal, Changwoo was mocking him. Despite the brave front, Taeyong was putting on, the pain his leg was giving him was plainly obvious to anyone in the room.

“Listen, you’re asking SM for 8 billion won, that’s a lot of money. Take from someone whose been in this industry for nearly over 12 years; An established entertainment company with thousands of trainees and artists like SM won’t pay that much if their artists might not have the ability to perform afterward. Now I don’t know if your shriveled, little brain can comprehend such a thing-”

“YOU LITTLE BITCH”

_ Shit, he fucked up. _

He could hear his friends’ frightened shouts as Changwoo lividly charged towards him; if it wasn’t for Kyungho, who grabbed him by the shoulder to halt him; Taemin was sure, his meaty fist would have been wrapped around his neck in no time.

“For fuck sake man, just get the boy a bag of frozen kimchi or something. The boss is already pissed at us as it is.” 

With a glare that could kill and an aggressive shove of the shoulder to Kyungho, Changwoo stormed off. Taemin let out a breath of air, he didn’t realise he was holding in and the tension clouding the room slightly dimmed a bit.

“You shouldn’t antagonise him. He’s already out for your guts.” Kyungho stoically advised, a bored expression written on his poor, excuse of a life’s face. 

Taemin knew he shouldn’t say anything more, running his mouth was creating a mountain of unnecessary problems on an already pretty big pile of problems; for some reason unknown to him, his mouth wouldn’t listen.

“Oh really, I should try and be nice to the people who kidnapped me and my friends while shooting another.” Taemin scoffed, sarcasm dripping off his venomous tongue.

_ Yeah, that wasn’t needed _

Surprisingly, Kyungho did nothing in retaliation; he just stood there and took Taemin’s defiance with a pinch of salt.

“HERE”

Suddenly a sharp cold object smacked across his cheek, leaving a giant, red cut underneath his eye. He barely had time to hiss out in pain before Changwoo’s almighty frame loomed over his small figure. His capture was only a couple inches from his face so close he could almost smell what seemed to be Chinese takeout on his breath.

“Another noise out of you and not even the boss will stop me from ripping out every organ from your body piece by piece.” Changwoo violently hissed in his ear, still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Despite the feverous tremble shaking him from head to toe, Taemin kept eye contact with the psychopath because he wouldn’t give the man the satisfaction of seeing him scared. It didn’t seem to work if the devilish smirk stretched on Changwoo’s face said anything.

They both left them shortly after that, Changwoo satisfied he put his message across, abandoning them in the darkness once again with only the pulsating light bulb above them as their sputtering light source. With the metal clang of the door, Taemin's legs threatened to collapse underneath themselves, his bravery and reckless mellowing down into pure fear and tiredness. But he couldn’t afford to so he carried on and tendered to Taeyong, carefully placing the defrosting bag onto his mauled limb.

“This should help with it,” Taemin softly said, hiding the underlying quivering in his voice, “We should cover it with like a cloth or something but I guess your jeans will just have to do.”

“TAEMIN-AH”

The said dancer flinched at the Baekhyun’s shrill voice which pierced his eardrums- _ it must have had the same effect on the younger two by the wincing expression written on their faces. _

When Taemin and the others appointed Baekhyun as the leader for their group, many of the executives didn’t agree with their decision; wanting Taemin to be the leader due to his seniority. However, he took the position in stride and proved them wrong by showing his main strength; his ability to comfort the members and keep a level head in trying times. So to see the leader lose his cool at what Taemin did, just proved how utterly careless it truly was.

“You know when SHINee hyung jokingly wished me good luck when they found out I would be in a group with you, I shrugged it off but now I can see why. I swear you’ve given me more grey hair in the last 5 minutes than in my 28 years living on this earth...oh my god…”

Taemin was starting to blank out the elder distressed telling off until Baekhyun gasped at the end, not finishing whatever he was going to say. He concernedly frowned at his hyung- _ in the corner of his eye, he could see Taeyong and Mark do the same. _

He wished he didn’t when he heard the reason though.

“....I’m turning into Junmyeon hyung”

A breathy chuckle left his and everyone else's lips when Baekhyun uttered those dramatic words, if there was anyone who could make someone laugh while being held hostage, it would be Baekhyun-hyung.

They didn’t speak after that. They just stayed where they were, huddled together in a little circle around Taeyong’s leg. It may have been hours-  _ everything felt like hours down there though-  _ until Mark’s timid voice asked the questions, they had all been asking themselves.

“Do you think SM will pay the ransom? Do you think they’ll risk Sehun hyung ?”

Taemin didn’t want them too, Sehun was a dear friend to him. They weren’t as close as him and Jongin but he didn’t want the younger man to risk his life for him; he may have already lost Jongin, he didn’t want to lose Sehun as well. He knew nonetheless that Sehun would do it for them, it was the kind of person he was.

“I don’t know about SM but Sehun will. I know that for certain.” Baekhyun confessed, not looking happy in slightest about it. The eldest probably felt the same thing he was. “We just need to stay on our best behaviour until SM pays up and then hopefully they’ll let us go.”

_ He’s lying _

Baekhyun may have fooled Taeyong and Mark but Taemin had known the vocalist longer, almost as long as EXO, so it was clear to him that Baekhyun didn’t believe his own words in the slightest.

“Which means no more heroic stunts or acts of bravery.” Baekhyun ironically ordered everyone, more importantly, Taemin. The underlying message behind the order was clear nevertheless.

‘ _ Or you’ll regret it’  _

If that was the case, Taemin would be able to add it to his never-ending list of failures. It would never, on the other hand, trump his biggest one; his fingers entangled themselves around his ringer finger on his left hand.  _ He should have said yes. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I really enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason. I think it's pretty obvious why Minho and Taemin were fighting but if it isn't don't worry because it'll be revealed in the upcoming chapters, next one or one after that, because the next two chapters are going to focus on the relationship side since I haven't really explored that yet.


	11. MINHO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What really happened that night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHINEE'S BACK SHINEE'S BACK SHINEE'S BACK 
> 
> Okay, so some quick notes: Everything in italics is from a memory/dream/flashback/inner thought; I believe that Minho and Onew live together while Key and Taemin live alone but in this, they'll all going to be staying together because it makes it easier and you know they need each other.
> 
> Anyway enjoy some 2min angst

“Minho, please you need to get some sleep.”

Kibum had been repeating that one phrase for the last hour since he arrived to drag Minho’s ass out of the gym. But he just ignored him and kept his attention on the mattered punching bag that had been bearing the brunt of all his frustrations for the last hour or so.

The same thoughts kept swirling, like a whirlpool in mind, with each vicious punch.

Why should he be allowed to sleep when Taemin was miles away in some creepy psychopath’s basement, being tortured for all he knew. Plus sleep just allowed an onslaught of nightmares to occur and, no matter how brave Minho was, he didn’t want to experience that again.

He wanted to remember Taemin for: his blinding, bright smile; his hard-working determination; and his mischievous personality- _ all the reasons he fell in love with him.  _ Not for the gory images, his wild imagination conjured up from the darkest pits of his mind.

_ “You’re an idiot.” _

_ Minho gazed up from the pot of pasta sauce, he had been trying to cook for over an hour now, to see Taemin staring at him with a blank expression in the hallway. The maknae was fully decked out in white shirt and joggers, his bag still in-hand, coming back from practice. _

_ “The whole point of you coming to visit was for you to relax,” Taemin whined, dramatically dropping his bag onto the floor and storming over to Minho, “I was going to cook for you and everything.” _

_ Minho had finally got the weekend free to go see Taemin and his family; he had originally planned to spend the entire day with Taemin and then the next day, traveling to his parents’ but someone made a mistake with Taemin’s schedule. It was only dance practice for his upcoming comeback and it was early enough in the morning that they still had a lengthy amount of time together; that didn’t mean he wasn’t mad about it though. _

_ He decided he wasn’t going to spend the day wallowing in his anger; Instead, he spent his time productively so he could surprise the maknae with some delicious food. _

_ “You’ve been at practice all day, I didn’t want you to come home and have to cook,” Minho explained, laughing at Taemin’s cute whine, “Besides I don’t want to have food poisoning.” _

_ Taemin jokingly gasped at Minho’s jab and playfully hit his arm, “I’ll have you know I am an amazing cook, have you been watching my vlogs.” _

_ “I have but I’ve also known you for over a decade and seen you eat nearly an entire box of chocolate cereal for dinner” Minho countered. _

_ “ It’s healthy and nice, what’s wrong with that.”  _

_ Minho had to make sure he didn’t bust a lung over his cooking creation at Taemin’s argument. It just showed how much he had missed the younger one over the past year or so.  _

_ He felt the familiar weight of Taemin’s chin on his shoulder as he tried to concrete on making this sauce.  _

_ “Are you trying to recreate the pasta kibum hyung made for us ?” Taemin asked, slightly tilting his head puzzled.  _

_ Humming a small yes, he silently passed Taemin a spoon so he could test it as he went to grab more spices and salt. He had been trying to follow what his fellow band member had done but for some reason, it wasn’t working out the way he wanted; Minho could have texted Kibum but he didn’t want to admit defeat yet. It was pasta sauce, how hard could it be. _

_ “Maybe we should just order takeaway ?” Taemin sheepishly suggested, after making a little noise of disapproval, once finished tasting it. _

_ “No, No,” Minho stubbornly disagreed, “I can do this, tell me what’s wrong with it.” _

_ That argument went on for another hour or so until the persistent, headstrong Minho finally gave into Taemin and found himself in Taemin’s living room, eating fried chicken. _

_ “You know, I would have been fine with some simple steak and kimchi. You didn’t have to make a big deal.” Taemin stated, cheeks full of chicken.  _

_ “I just wanted to make it special.” Minho sighed, disappointed he couldn’t recreate it. _

_ Shaking his head at his boyfriend’s stubbornness, Taemin finally placed the wing he was gnawing on, down so he could give his full attention to Minho. A small smile crept onto his lips as he stared into Taemin’s chocolate eyes. _

_ “You’re here, that’s special enough.” The maknae proclaimed, before leaning in to place his soft lips onto Minho’s. It may have been for only a few seconds but to Minho, who hasn’t seen Taemin physically in months, it felt like years; His lips may have been tingling from the chill sauce on the chicken wings, Taemin had been eating minutes ago, but it was all worth it for him. _

_ “When did you get all sweet and nice ?” Minho beamed, so much his cheeks could be stuck like that forever. _

_ “What do you mean,” Taemin exclaimed, “I’ve always been nice.” _

_ “You just called me an idiot, only an hour ago.” _

_ The couple fell into a comfortable silence after that, something that could only come from knowing someone for over 15 years. Minho couldn’t help that his eyes kept drifting over to maknae, cheeks puffed up and eyes cutely widen; video calls didn’t do justice to Taemin’s natural beauty. _

_ Before going to the military, Minho had taken for granted simple times, like this, with Taemin but now he wants nothing more to spend every day with the younger one even if they’re just watching a movie, eating dinner, or spending a few extra hours in bed together. _

_ These loving thoughts were clouding his mind so much, he didn’t even register what he blurted out. _

“Kibum, go back to my apartment. I’ve got him.”

“You sure,hyung?”

He didn’t notice Jinki’s entrance until the elder was ushering the younger member away, leaving the two roommates alone. Unlike Kibum, Jinki didn’t try to persuade him to do something; he just sat down on the nearby bench, off to the side where Minho’s gym bag laid.

He didn’t try to force it, it was comfortable. Something Jinki did effortlessly, by his presence alone.

“He’s just trying to help.” Jinki softly stated.

“I know.” Minho murmured, his voice only just audible behind the excessive, heavy pants; That didn’t stop him, he carried on boxing despite his waning energy.

They all had different ways of coping: Jinki made sure he was everyone’s rock while ignoring his pain; Kibum became an overbearing, protective mother- hen; and Minho, he became absorbed in a task to distract himself hence why he was in the gym at a ridiculous time.

His breathing came more and more erratic as his punches became weaker and weaker. He could feel his vision become sparse and before he knew it, his body had collapsed onto the punching bag, telling him that he was done for the night  _ -technically morning. _

“We fought.” Minho muttered over the rapid hammering of his heart, his sweating clinging to every inch of his skin, “That was the last conversation we had.”

Sluggishly, he turned his head which was still leaning against the bulky gym equipment, so he could stare at his hyung’s face. Jinki held nothing but sympathy for the younger man, something Minho didn’t deserve.

“What if that was the last conversation I ever have with him? What if he hates me?” Minho mumbled the flurry of remorseful questions aside.  _ He could never hate him as much as he hates himself. _

“Minho, Taemin could never hate you-” The leader tried to reason with him but Minho couldn’t listen to him because he didn’t know what happened. None of them did except the two, who were in the room where it happened.

“I asked him to marry me .”

_ “What... Are you joking around ?” _

_ Shit, did he just really say that out loud? _

_ By the shock ridden face plastered on Taemin, it seemed Minho did. His shock looked like it was copied straight from a cartoon: his eyes were inflated like two balloons; mouth gaped open wide; and hand, still holding a chicken wing, frozen. _

_ Was he joking though? _

_ He wasn’t certain if he was, even if it was a fatal slip of the tongue. He had always wanted to get married and have kids but that dream had been clouded by his other dream of being an idol. It was only until recently when he was about to reach his 30s, did he stop to reevaluate his life. _

_ “What if I’m not,” Minho whispered earnestly. _

_ Those words seem to unfreeze Taemin and his shock quickly turns into incredulous.  _

_ “Minho we can’t even walk down the street, holding hands. What makes you think we can get married ?” Taemin pointed out and it was a valid point. Minho and Taemin had been going out for nearly 4 years and in that long period, he could count on both hands the time he and Taemin had been able to publicly have a romantic interaction; anytime the two wanted to get away, they would have to book a hotel room under a fake name and enter at different times of the day. _

_ “Things are different nowadays,” Minho countered, “fans and executives are more open to the idea of idols’ dating. I mean take Changmin hyung and Jongdae, for instead.” _

_ “For the most part they did but they’re completely different from us. I don’t think our fans are going to easily accept that their ideal boyfriends turned out to be gay and have a relationship with one of their bandmates.” _

_ The panic must have been getting to the maknae because, the next thing Minho knew, Taemin stood up and started to pace back and forward in front of him. _

_ “ I mean, Jesus christ Minho, SM didn’t even let us move in with each other because it’d be too ‘suspicious’ despite you and Jinki-hyung living together. How do you think they’ll feel if we announce we’re getting married.” Taemin commented, his pacing getting more rapid by the minute, so much it was making Minho dizzy. _

_ Abruptly, Minho stood up and clasped Taemin's shoulders tightly so he’d have to stop moving. He needed to stop this before it got more heated. _

_ “Who cares, what any of them think,” Minho declared, staring deeply into Taemin’s eye, shimmering with worry and fear.  _

_ “I care. We worked our asses off for more than 13 years, I don’t want to just throw that away for some silly-” _

_ Taemin stopped himself from carrying on but Minho already knew what he was going to say. It was clear. Was he throwing away the life of an idol? _

_ No. _

_ “I want to get married and have kids in the future,” Minho stated, no hesitance in his voice whatsoever, “ Don’t you want that as well.” _

_ “No...I don’t know…” _

“After that, we tried to talk about the future of our relationship but we kept arguing, and the next thing I knew I was out the door. We haven’t talked since.”

As he explained his side of the story, he had made his way over to Jinki’s side. It felt nice to finally tell someone what happened that night; both he and Taemin had been keeping the fight close to their chest since it happened.

The days after the fight was pure torture for him; every day, when he was allowed, was spent checking his phone: searching for a text, or contemplating if he should send a text. However, his stubbornness and pride won in the end thus he never did. 

And now said boyfriend- _ were they still together- _ has been kidnapped because the universe doesn’t like him.

He felt Jinki slide a careful hand onto his thigh and gently say to him, “ Each one of us started this ‘life’ at such a young age and for most of us, especially Taemin, it’s all we’ve ever known. So when something comes along that could very well shake the very foundations of that said life, whether it’s good or bad, it’s frightening. I mean, you remember how Taemin was when he found out he was going solo.”

He did. 

Despite it being his dream to go solo, the young dancer had started to freak out and crumble under all the stress of performing alone. He still vividly remembered the purple bags permanently painted under his eyes and his fragile, almost translucent figure which showed every bone in his body when he shifted in the slightest. It got so bad that they all had to stage an intervention for him.

“I can only make assumptions but I think, when you proposed, it led to a lot of doubt and fear about the future which eventually consumed him, to point it lead to you both fighting about it.”

“I guess I never thought about it like that…,” Minho trails off, focusing on the spot above Jinki’s shoulder. His lips move around words and thoughts he doesn’t know how to vocalise as Jinki patiently waits, “I just assumed he didn’t care about me... or our relationship.”

His voice was so small and weak, if anyone was around they’d have to double-check if this was the same person as SHINee’s flaming charisma Choi Minho.

“If there is one thing I know for certain is that Taemin loves you. I’ve known that man for I don't know how long and I’ve never seen him look at anyone, the same way he looks at you. Because you, Choi Minho, are the only person he loves in this entire world. Me, Kibum, his parents, and his brother could never compare to the love he feels for you.”

“I…” Minho tried to choke out but his emotion became too much for him and the first few drops of tears rolled down his face, “I can’t lose him hyung-I can’t.”

With each sob, his shoulder violently shook with the effort to keep some small part of himself together. Jinki didn’t say anything, he just pulled the band member in his arms and enveloped his vulnerable form. Minho folded into his embrace with ease, his face nestled into his hyung’s neck.

As he slurred out those barely coherent words, muffled by Jinki’s jacket, over and over again. He wished that it was Taemin’s arms around him right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO MINHO PROPOSED, most of you picked up on that in the last chapter so congrats :)
> 
> I was a bit worried about this chapter (and you can say if you like it or not below) because it was a different type of writing style, jumping back between memory and present-day; plus I was worried Taemin's refusal of the proposal and the way he refused was a bit out of character, and I didn't want that. However, I do believe that even the kindest of people's attitudes can change when in front of a life-changing decision, which marriage is.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked it, stay tuned for some Jaeyong angst next.


	12. JAEHYUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late-night balcony talks

Time was a strange concept, Jaehyun thought.

Some clung to it and counted each painful second while others ignored it and before they knew it, a year had passed in a blink of an eye. 

For Jaehyun, life had always passed by too quickly. Years felt like months, months felt like weeks, and so on; and that feeling carried on from childhood to full-fledged adulthood.

Even when the unspeakable happened, Jaehyun found all the days merged until they were clusters of incoherent blurs.

It felt like only yesterday when Jaehyun and Taeyong were sharing this same bed, staring up at the same ceiling, and talking till the sun peeked his head up.

_ “I can hear you thinking from over here.” _

_ Jaehyun gazed down at his hyung; head nestled on his chest and eyelids closed. He was the epitome of beauty. If he didn’t say anything, Jaehyun may have still believed Taeyong was asleep; there was no indication he wasn’t, with breath still ticklishly faint. _

_ “If that’s so, what am I thinking ?” Jaehyun jokes, fingertips subconsciously brushing through Taeyong’s damaged bleached hair. _

_ To be honest, Jaehyun wasn’t thinking about anything serious. It was just one of those nights where his brain wouldn’t shut up, leading him to lazily stare at Taeyong’s bedroom ceiling at 2 am. _

_ “Hmmmm…how to solve world hunger ?” _

_ “Nope, I was thinking about how lucky I am to be with you.” Jaehyun flattered like it was second nature. _

_ “Uh, you’re such a sap.” Taeyong groaned, burying his head further into Jaehyun’s chest. He could faintly see a pinch of red peek out on Taeyong’s cheeks which made Jaehyun beam, dimples included. _

_ It was so easy to make his hyung shy but it was also so easy for him to fall into Taeyong’s dark chocolate eyes, that were now blinking up at him. _

_ He was so smitten and he didn’t even try to deny it anymore. _

_ “You should try and get some sleep, we have schedules tomorrow”  _

_ Ironically, despite being the sensible one stating this, neither of them tried to go back to sleep; content with laying in the bed, in each other's arms. _

_ “You know I think the others are catching on,” Taeyong confessed, his soft fingers, almost mirroring his own, playfully caressing Jaehyun’s smooth chest. He weirdly found it ticklish and soothing at the same time. _

_ “What makes you think... that ?” He listlessly asked, briefly stopping to yawn as drowsiness wormed its way to the front of his mind. _

_ “Just something Mark said to me today, besides we haven’t exactly been discreet as of late,” Taeyong explained. It was the truth, the couple had gotten careless recently; nearly being caught in action a couple of times by a few members on both floors. It was bad enough their manager had, a few months ago. _

_ “Maybe we should go away for a weekend or something then. We’ll just say we have a separate schedule, I'm sure Youngjae hyung will cover for us.” Jaehyun suggested, already brimming with excitement from the idea. _

_ “That sounds like a good plan.” _

They never got around to doing it though. With Jaehyun’s MC job, SuperM world tour, and then two consecutive NCT 127 comebacks shortly following after; there was sadly no time to do it.

With a heavy huff, Jaehyun dragged himself out of Taeyong’s bed. His body may have been emotionally drained but physically he couldn’t get his brain to shut up. Maybe some fresh air might change that and it was just Taeyong’s room causing this. Too many memories hidden every crevice.

Entering the 5th floor’s balcony, immediately a gush of brisk wind hit him and crept its way inside the oversized grey hoodie he was buried in; despite being the middle of the summer and usually blistering hot, Seoul’s weather had taken a drastic change over the last days and become shockingly cold and bleak. Ironically symbolising the circumstances.

However it wasn’t the cold that caught his attention first, instead, it was their only Thai member who was leaning over the balcony fence, deep in thought.

“Can’t sleep ?”

Ten hadn’t known the younger man was there if the involuntary jump he made said anything. However, he instantly relaxed when he noticed it was only Jaehyun there and permitted the member to join him. 

“No, I can’t.” Ten admitted, turning back to gaze at the bustling neon streets of Seoul. By paleness of Ten’s skin and dotted red on his nose; Jaehyun could tell he had been out here awhile.

The unspoken ‘you too ?’ and ‘yeah’ rang true between the long friends; it didn’t need to be said because why else would someone be voluntarily up at this ridiculous time. 

“Is that Taeyong’s jumper ?” Ten asked randomly, his cat-like eyes squinting at the familiar garment. Jaehyun almost forgot he was wearing it; he had scavenged for hours through Taeyong’s drawers _ \- making quite a mess which he knew Taeyong would berate him for, if he was here-  _ for this hoodie, it being one of Taeyong’s favorites. Knowing remotely well, it would smell like the older man- _ coffee and vanilla. _

He desperately needed to cling to something that would remind him of Taeyong.

“Yeah….why ?” Jaehyun said before confusingly pausing when Ten suddenly started to chuckle.

“Nothing, Nothing. Just remembered I owe Johnny 30,000 won,” The Tai dancer explained, “Can’t believe the idiot was right about you two.”

“Oh, oka-wait you bet on us ?” 

“Well yeah but it wasn’t if you were going to get together, it was on how long it’d be until you both figured it out. I said it’d take 4 years and Johnny said it would take 6 years-don’t look at me like that, you should be grateful I said 4. Yuta thought it’d be 10.” Ten clarified, with no remorse for his dongsaeng.

“Yuta hyung as well. Was everyone on this ?” Jaehyun gaped, how many people knew about their feelings for each other before themselves did.

“It was only the three of us, we tried to persuade Doyoung to join but he thought you two were hopeless so he didn’t participate.”

_ Okay, that was a little better, if it had been the entire band then it would have been much more embarrassing. _

“Well, I guess you kind of didn’t lose the bet because we’re not technically together.” Jaehyun corrected, promptly flinching afterward at Ten’s high pitch ‘what but we thought-’. He had forgotten how loud his hyung could be sometimes.

“We realised our feelings for each other last year while we were in Paris but we decided to keep it secret and not label it because we had no idea if it was going to work out or not.” He disclosed.

They kind of realised their secret was up roughly around the end of the year when people started to realise what was going on however Jaehyun and Taeyong never did come out to them. Perhaps it’s because the two didn’t even know themselves; they never really discussed what they were. They were just enjoying the ride but that didn’t stop the doubt, fear, and uncertainty which would creep in now and then and make him wonder if this was meant to be or not.

“Do you love him ?”

With no hesitation, Jaehyun answered with a “Yes.”

“And he loves you too because he would not shut up about you when we were on tour so what’s stopping you,” Ten bluntly pointed out, “Right now go over-”

Ten froze mid-sentence, his tongue still peeking out of his lips, as his skin went feverous pale with a hint of green like he was forcing down the urge to vomit. Jaehyun instinctively knew why the older man felt sick, it was because he forgot. He forgot Taeyong wasn’t in the other room deeply sleeping, he was somewhere possibly fatally injured- _ or worse dead. _

Despite his piercing grief eating away at his own heart every single second of every single day, Jaehyun couldn’t help feeling immense sorrow for Ten- _ and Lucas _ . Not only has two of his best friends been kidnapped but so has 2 of his hyungs, and this didn’t even include that another had been shot and is unconscious in the hospital. He knew the ‘Super’ group had become close over the short period they’ve been together by the way Taeyong constantly talked about the older three.

_ He didn’t want to imagine how Ten or Lucas would have reacted if one of the members from WayV had been taken as well. _

“Do you think the agents were right, that they could come after WayV,” Ten sniffled, his shoulder starting to shake from containing himself, “and don’t try to make up some bullshit lie to protect me cause I’ve had enough of that from the police all day.” 

Jaehyun could have easily still sprouted a little white lie to the dancer but staring into his hyung’s bloodshot, exhausted eyes. He couldn’t do that to him, Ten had been through enough as it was.

He remembered the day when the Chinese band found out about the kidnappings; he had come back from the hospital, after spending a ludicrous amount of time at Youngjae hyung’s bedside, to come back to hear Ten’s shrill wails. The sound of it still chilled his bones to this day.

“Honestly, I think they did want you, guys, but not anymore ” Jaehyun carefully answers a beat too slow. Ten didn’t look any better, in fact, he looked more troubled than before by Jaehyun’s answer.

“You’d think I’d be glad about that, self-preservation and all that shit- but I'm not because what makes me so great and lucky that I get to sit here and have my freedom while-Taeyong, Mark, Taemin-hyung, and Baekhyun-hyung don’t.” Ten choked, voice cracking at the end of his ramble. A hint of anger and bitterness- _ something he never imagined seeing on his precious hyung’s face-  _ crept into his expression, clouding the deep exhaustion and sadness that settled in earlier.

He wanted to say something to him to help but what could he say because he felt the same way. Why wasn’t he the one to be taken?

Why did it have to be Mark and Taeyong?

The two most overworked people who constantly drove themselves to become malnutrition, dehydrated, and exhausted so their band could thrive and survive in this brutal business.

But he- _ or any of the others- _ had been taken instead, would that be any better because then Taeyong and Mark would be suffering the same grief he was feeling at this moment.

No... it would be better because they’d be alive and safe at home.

In the end, Jaehyun didn’t say anything and the two men stayed on the balcony, wallowing silently in their shared guilt until Lucas came barrelling outside, visibly shaking from head to toe with important news. His stomach violently churned, his knees trembled and breath stilled; they’re dead...they’re dead that’s got to be it...they’re dead and you did not-

“It’s Jongin hyung, he’s awake.”


	13. JONGIN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A painful awakening

When Jongin first opened his eyes; he was greeted by an unfamiliar white ceiling, an irritating beeping noise, and the strong, unpleasant smell of bleach, each one adding more and more confusion to his drug-riddled mind. He tried to process it all but it was like his brain had decided to quit on him and do a hard factory reset. All he could do was blink, adjusting his heavy eyes to the bright, artificial lights beaming down upon him.

His body felt light like he was floating in mid-air but he could feel the springs from the old mattress, he was laying on, digging into his back at the same time. 

_ “Maybe if I went back to sleep, it’d stop,”  _ Jongin thought, already feeling himself slip into the enticing beyond.

And he may have if the warm pressure of something clinging tightly to his hand didn’t distract him.

With unfocused eyes, Jongin turned his head towards his bedside to see two dark brown orbs staring back at him.

“Kyungsoo hyung ?” 

Despite knowing the older man for nearly 10 years, he had never seen his hyung so drained and lifeless before; heavy dark circles were painted underneath his eyes matched with a stain of dried tears. 

“Yeah it’s me, I’m here. Everything’s going to be okay.” Kyungsoo answers, tears already pooling in his eye; which didn’t reassure Jongin that everything was okay.

“How long…” Jongin trailed off, his brain barely having the capacity to finish the question however he didn’t need to because Kyungsoo understood what he was trying to say and answered before he could finish the question.

“You’ve been asleep for 4 days. Well technically 5 now, it’s past midnight.” 

_ 4 days? _

_ It’s been that long. _

As Jongin let the information sink in, he kept wondering why he was here; every time he tried to think his brain kept drawing a blank.

“Hyung I don’t remember-gah-”

It’s amazing, what some pain can do; a little jostle of his open wound while trying _ -and failing- _ to sit up and suddenly everything that happened flashed before his eyes in a millisecond.

_ “Taemin ?” _

_ As Jongin’s voice echoed through Taemin’s apartment, an eerie feeling set and settled in his gut. Something that had been brewing since he arrived at the open front door. However, as he looked around the apartment, everything seemed to be in order; the slightly messy kitchen with half-eaten breakfast in the sink contrasted with the impeccable living room, where Jongin’s bag was carefully placed on the sofa. _

_ Yes, everything seemed fine. The only worrisome thing was Taemin seemed to be nowhere to be found. _

_ He couldn’t hear the splashing of the shower or the creak of the floorboards. Absolutely nothing, it was dead silent.  _ _   
_ _ Jongin shook his head, free from the onslaught of unsettling thoughts, and went over to grab his bag. It’s probably nothing- _

_ “JONGIN, RUN-” _

_ BANG… _

“Jongin, you okay ?”

Kyungsoo’s concerned voice ripped him away from the horrifying memories and back into the present day. His hyung was on the edge of his seat, only seconds away from leaping off from it, at the soft noise Jongin made. He may be high from a multitude of drugs _ \- way more than any other time he’s been to the hospital before-  _ but his pain was able to overdrive that.

He couldn’t respond properly to Kyungsoo’s worry, all he could manage was a whisper of “Taemin”

“I don’t know how much you remember but Tae-”

“They took him, didn’t they ?” Jongin choked out, he briefly squeezed his eyes shut as another wave of memories hit him; memories of Taemin screaming his name out while all warmth left his body painfully and slowly. No, he couldn’t focus on that.

He couldn’t focus on the fact he remembers: the bullet ripping through his skin; how he could feel it lodged in there as he withered in agony on Taemin’s carpeted floor; and how he could still vividly taste the blood which filled his mouth to the point it was choking him. So he didn’t, he concentrated on Kyungsoo.

If Kyungsoo looked drained before, it was nothing compared to now. He had become ten times paler and ashen at the mere mention of Taemin’s name. But there was something hidden underneath the empty complexion; it was so small the average person on the street wouldn’t have noticed it but Jongin had always been a good judge of character.

“There’s something else, isn't there ?” Jongin shakingly queried, “Something you’re not telling me.”

He couldn’t hear much over the excessive pounding in his ears after three names slipped out from the older man’s mouth because Jongin instantly knew what it meant. Tears were falling thick and fast in sync with his erratic pants of breath; he knew Kyungsoo was calling out his name, trying with all his might to soothe him but it wasn’t working. The guilt, fear, and trauma were too overwhelming.

_ “ _ Jongin ?”

_ “JONGIN, RUN-” _

_ BANG... _

_ Blood. _

_ Pain. _

_ It was everywhere. _

_ Engulfing his entire body. _

_ He couldn’t move….breath…. He was paralyzed  _

“Just follow my breathing okay...1,2-”

_ It wasn’t going away. _

_ It was always there. _

_ “JONGIN-GET OFF OF ME, JONGIN” _

_ Taemin… _

_ Taemin needs me but the darkness was too powerful, it wouldn’t let me go. _

“3...1,2,3…shit”

_ He couldn’t do it. _

_ He was too weak. _

_ “Get him out of here before he alerts the entire street-shit the boss is calling...Sir ?...No, everything is going to plan... we’ll deliver him to you as soon as possible...yes sir... are you sure? he won’t snitch...I mean he does work closely with them-” _

“I’m going to call for a nurse, I’ll be-”

“Don’t”

Jongin quickly tugged on Kyungsoo’s sleeve, halting him. The small, weak action- _ mixed with the present panic attack still occurring-  _ drained him of any energy left in his tall, long body.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Jongin reassured, mostly to himself than his band member, taking small breaths in and out as he used any remaining willpower to force the bile, steadily moving up his throat, down. Through the hazy,panic-induced mist he could faintly make out Kyungsoo sitting back down, trusting Jongin’s word.

“Don’t overwork yourself, you've just woken up. Maybe you should go back to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.” Kyungsoo soothed, one small hand tightly clasped around Jongin’s bigger one while the other brushed softly against his cheek.

As he intently stared into Kyungsoo’s gleaming eyes, the idea of going back to sleep seemed more and more appealing, his energy rapidly dimming into nothing.

_ “-Are you sure? he won’t snitch...I mean he does work closely with them-” _

Wait what...shit…

“No, No I can’t- I can’t.” Jongin rambled incoherently, brushing off Kyungsoo’s tender touch.

“Jongin, you need to-”

“No, No- you’re not listening to me.” He ploughed on, If he wasn’t in such a weakened state then he may have been able to shout however instead it came out as a wet croak, “I remember something- something from when I was-someone, I think it was one of the men- he said something like  _ are you sure? he won’t snitch...I mean he does work closely with them- _ ”

“Wait,” Kyungsoo interrupted, voice hardened and strong with a pinch confusion bleeding through, “ what are you saying ?”

“I think someone in the company was in on this and I think it’s someone we know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> God, I feel like it's been eons since I've written a chapter but it's finally here, yey!  
> Things have started to get back to normal, here in the UK, so I've found less time to write but I'm still trying to find the time to do a little each day.   
> I wasn't too sure about this chapter just because I was initially going to have it completely different with a time skip but I kept having writer's block on how to structure it out so, in the end, I didn't.  
> Anyway I hoped you liked this chapter x


	14. BAEKHYUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan in the making.

Baekhyun had developed a serious case of insomnia over the last few days. For the life of him, he couldn’t get to sleep; no matter how many sheep he counted- _ black, white or grey- _ his brain didn’t want to cooperate with him.

And that didn’t spontaneously change tonight as he found himself blinking up at the dingy basement ceiling once again.

“You know the whole point of this ‘keeping watch’ idea of yours, is for you to sleep.” Taemin pointed out as Baekhyun heavily dropped down next to him, giving up on his pointless pursuit for sleep.

The younger idol had taken residence leaning against the wall, in the middle of the room; giving him the perfect view of the basement door and the two NCT members huddled in the corner, fast asleep-  _ something Baekhyun envied immensely.  _ He was right,  hypocrisy was oozing from Baekhyun; the idea for one of them to stay awake while the others slept, in shifts, was his idea after the first day when none of them dared to get a wink of sleep in fear something would happen but here he was still awake.

“My brain can’t seem to shut off, it’s nothing serious.” Baekhyun deflected. He knew Taemin saw through his blatant lie but he didn’t press the issue further; his own eyes painted with dark circles which only seemed to intensify as their days in captivity increased.

“How is he doing ?” Baekhyun asked, gesturing his head towards Taeyong.

“Not too good, he’s gotten really clammy and pale,” Taemin stated, “That’s on top of his nausea and fatigue; I think he’s going into shock.”

Baekhyun worriedly glanced over to the rapper and it seemed Taemin’s observations were right. Taeyong had always been one of the paler members in their group but that was nothing compared to the ashen white- _ more like grey-  _ he was at the moment. If he can recall from his basic first aid training, they were all symptoms of shock which didn’t bode well.

Taeyong needed a hospital and quickly.

“He’s not going to hold out for much longer.” Baekhyun pessimistically thought out loud, strange coming from the usually optimistic individual.

“If I can guess we’ve been here for 4 days and we were taken on Monday which means, if I’m right, then tomorrow is-”

“Friday, when the ransom is happening.” He bleakly finished.

Despite it being his ‘salvation’, his way out of this hell hole, Baekhyun had been avoiding the subject because he couldn’t bear the fact that Sehun would be the one to do it. If something were to happen to Sehun because of him, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

It was bad enough Jongin had been shot- _ he remembered sobbing uncontrollably into his hand, so he wouldn’t wake anyone up, the night Taemin told him what happened. _

“He just needs to hold on for one more night.” Taemin optimistically reassured- _ more himself than Baekhyun.  _ The unspoken ‘and we’ll be home’ rang clearly after, so clearly it’s as if Taemin spoke the words out loud. 

If everything goes according to their plan, they’ll go home…

Will they?

Silently gesturing to join him, Baekhyun went over to the corner of the basement, opposite to the one Taeyong and Mark were in, where most of the old, cobweb ridden shelves were. Taemin followed him, confusion written all over his face.

“I found this yesterday but I didn’t want to say in front of Mark and Taeyong.” Baekhyun whispered _ -in case one of them was faking being asleep- _ to the SHINee member as he slightly pulled out a long, what seemed to be sturdy plank from behind the shelf, he had hidden it behind- _ with great difficulty he must add. _

“It’s a...plank, I’m not getting the secrecy behind it”

“Look closer,” Baekhyun instructed, pulling it out a bit further so Taemin could get a better glimpse.

On closer inception, in the far right-hand corner was a long jagged, sharp nail piercing out from the plank which was one prick away from giving someone a serious case of tetanus. 

“No, absolutely not.”

“It’s sharp enough to cut through the rope,” Baekhyun disputed, “All we have to do is get one of ours off, and then we can untidy the others with our hands.”

“And then what ?” Taemin argued, his voice steadily rising, “You hit them with the fucking plank while the rest of us make a run for it...oh my god, that’s your plan.”

“No not...okay, maybe it is”

That wasn’t the entirety of his plan, Taemin was missing some key elements to it but it was the fundamentals of it. Baekhyun knew it wasn’t perfect, there were big gaping holes and it could fall apart at any given minute but it was the best he had. They wouldn’t get another opportunity like tomorrow; if they wait any longer, it’ll be too late.

“What happened to the whole staying on our best behaviour crap.” The SHINee member noted, criticism leaking off his tongue as echoed Baekhyun's own words.

“What happened to the idiot who recklessly put his life on the line for a bag of frozen kimchi.” 

The bitter jab flew out of his mouth before he could fully comprehend what it was and he instantly regretted. They needed to work together in unison- _as_ _ a group- _ more than ever and as the leader he should be promoting that however here he was spitting fire at Taemin, wasting what little precious time they have. 

It was as if this place was corrupting him in the worst kind of way and he hated it.

Baekhyun breathed softly in and out, trying to stifle the brewing anger settling in his gut, “Look, we have to try or we’re not going to make it out of this alive, that’s the bleak truth.”

“Maybe they’ll let us go-”

“No they won’t,” Baekhyun ploughed on, mercilessly breaking Taemin futile attempt at a hopeful reassurance, “We know their names and faces. Why do you think they’d show us that, if they had any intention of letting us go.”

This small detail was something they had all overlooked, it wasn’t until the second night, when Baekhyun was, once again, silently drowning in his own tears, did he realise that these twisted men weren’t going to let them go. Why would they let four famously known individuals, who knew their names and face, back out into the world where they could contact the police. No money would change the fact they’d be on the run for the rest of their miserable lives. 

Desperately, Taemin briefly glanced at Taeyong and Mark before sighing, accepting what Baekhyun was saying is the truth, “Even if we did this plan, what we’re supposed to leave you here while you fight someone twice the size of you. I’m not doing that.”

“Someone needs to stay…”

“Then I’m staying with you. It’ll take two of us to take down one of them long enough for Taeyong and Mark to get away.” Taemin relentlessly reasoned.

No...No, not again.

He couldn’t let another person put their life on the line for him. 

Jongin, Sehun, and, now, Taemin. The list kept getting longer and longer with each passing second and it was suffocating him.

“Taeminnie...I... can't ask you do that”

“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering ” Taemin dove forward in an attempt to clasp his own bound petite hands around Baekhyun’s in a sign of consolation; it did nothing for the  chugging and churning whirlpool in his stomach. 

Baekhyun was about to shoot the younger male down again however seeing the newfound determination in the youngster's eyes- _ something akin to the one he had when he bravely got the frozen bag for Taeyong- _ made Baekhyun stop in his tracks. He wouldn’t be able to stop him. No matter how much tactical persuasion he used; once Taemin had something set in his mind, he was unlikely to change it.

Squeezing his eyes shut and with a big deep sigh rooting from the depths of his lungs, Baekhyun relented.

“Okay, We’ll stay while Taeyong and Mark escape” Baekhyun muttered solemnly, “ but you do realise that we are signing our death warrants here, maybe even theirs if it doesn’t work. There’s no turning back.” He stressed the last bit, hoping there might be the slimmest chance Taemin would reconsider.

“As you said, we’re going to end up dead either way. At least this way, they get to live.” 

It was unsettling hearing Taemin morbidly say what he had subconsciously been thinking since he entered this blood-curdling, bone-chilling basement. There was only one way this would end, with him being dead.


	15. JENO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations and Betrayal

Jeno never understood how he became the de facto leader of Dream. When they first debuted, Mark bore the burdensome role and it made sense why; he was the oldest in the group, the center and he debuted first. However, when Mark graduated, it fell to him to pick up the pieces.

Gracefully, he took the position head-on and strove to do the best he could- _ with advice from Taeyong and help from Mark because he’ll always be a leader in his eyes.  _ He tried to fulfill the shoes Mark left But how can he ‘lead’ his friends- _ brothers-  _ through their crippling misery.

He doesn’t even know how to get through his own.

It felt like Jeno was floating on a shaky raft which threatened to capsize at any given minute from doubt, insecurity, and grief; with each wave, it became stronger and stronger and he couldn’t see a way out of it.

Like right now as Jeno scoured for Renjun through the building where NCT resided.

When Jisung first came to him in a worried mess, saying he couldn’t find Renjun. An instant flare of dread shuddered through him combined with horrific images of his friend’s body lying in some random river.  _ It’s amazing what hypervigilance will do to your mental health. _

Thankfully, he was able to shoot those damaging thoughts down deep inside him so he could comfort his younger brother.

It wasn’t hard to find the dream member because there weren’t many places he could be. Nowadays, it was either the dorm, hospital or police station; they had all been denied entry to SM, the only people allowed were leaders such as Suho sunbaenim and Kun hyung, who was acting as NCT’s leader in Taeyong’s absence _ \- Kun wanted Taeil to do it but the eldest argued Kun was already a leader so the position fell to him. _

Eventually, he found him on the 10th floor in Mark’s untouched room. 

“You didn’t tell anyone you were out,” Jeno said as he planted himself down on the edge of the bed, next to Renjun's strewn out figure, “Jisung was worried about you.”

“Sorry, I just needed some time to think.” Renjun softly apologised, his fingers drifting up to absentmindedly play with Jeno’s.

“Did you hear Kai sunbaenim woke up?”

“Yeah, I heard Ten hyung say something about it. I think him, Lucas hyung, and Sicheng hyung went to see him. ” Jeno answered. Even if he wasn’t close to the older idol, it felt good to hear that; it had been a while since they’ve heard any kind of news whatsoever since the infamous phone call occurred. Everything’s been radio silent since then.

Jeno’s eyes catch Renjun’s lips moving around hesitant words that he doesn’t know how to vocalise before he quietly asks, “Do you...think he may know anything ?” 

“...I’m not sure...” He admitted. Jeno would be lying if he didn’t think the same thing when he heard about Kai’s recovery. The idol had been in the room when Taemin had been kidnapped, a small optimistic part of him wanted to believe he’d have some essential information that would help further the investigation and get their members home.

“There’s something I can’t wrap my head around and I haven’t been able to shake it off,” Renjun confided, sitting up proving to Jeno he was serious, “Why them? Why specifically choose those 4 individuals ?”

_ Huh...Renjun has a point, why were they picked? _

To be honest, Jeno never put too much thought in the matter; His crippling despair narrowing his mindset to the sobbing, sodden mess which spent the remaining last days curled up in his bed, wishing the world away.

"Ummm...Maybe because they were all from different groups or in the same group." Jeno tried to helpfully suggest.

"At first, I thought that too but it still doesn't make sense. It can't be different groups because Taeyong hyung and Mark hyung are in the same group; It also can't be the same group because why didn't they take Kai sunbaenim. Why go to all the effort to get Baekhyun sunbaenim when another member is right in front of you." Renjun passionately explained, his dedication pouring out in colossal waves.

It was as if the endless possibilities and problems were continuously running through the other Dream member's head in a chaotic flurry. Jeno could tell it was frustrating for him, to the point Renjun leaped off the squeaky bed so he could pace around the small room.

"Okay...Okay, breathe " Jeno said, rushing over to pry Renjun’s nimble fingers away from his hair before he started ripping clumps of it out, making himself a bald spot.  _ He could already hear their stylist noona having a heart attack at the thought.  _

"You think I'm going crazy, don’t you ?” Renjun sniffled, small glistening tears escaping their watery prison.

“No of course not, if you think this crazy you haven’t watched the 10th floor try to cook ramyeon at 3 am while drunk.” Jeno jokes, his eyes turning to two small crescents matched with a beaming smile at Renjun’s wet laugh.

After some time, Renjun allowed Jeno to usher him back so they could both sit on the edge of the bed; hands clasped together, shoulder to shoulder as if they were both conjoined twins, intertwined at the hip. The only time they separated was when Renjun made a move to wipe away his remaining unshed tears.

“What if it’s because of popularity and status in each of their respective groups,” The Chinese member rationally announced, “Each of them has main, prominent roles, it could even be argued they’re the faces of their groups. They also get paid the most and give SM more money compared to others. They specifically chose bands and members which they knew SM couldn’t financially benefit without.”

Unlike their initial idea, this one made the most sense. Taemin Sunbaenim was an idolised, admirable member of the K-pop industry with a long respected career, inside and outside of his group, at such a young age; taking someone with that kind of status would have a great impact and be noticed. Same reason for Baekhyun Sunbaenim: he is one of the best vocalists in the industry; was part of a worldwide known group; and in just under a year had two successful, well-selling albums. NCT may have not had the longevity as SHINee and EXO but they have made their mark, and Taeyong and Mark were undeniably the faces of the groups- _ their pillars-  _ their stage presence, charisma, and dedication to their craft were unmatched.

Renjun’s hypothesis checked all the boxes…

Did it?

Something was pulling and tugging inside of him as if a match of tug of war was taking place in his gut. They were missing something…

Something very important…

“...China…” Jeno whispered out loud in shockingly realisation.

“What ?”

“ We didn’t think about China. Lay Sunbaenim and WayV make a considerable amount of money for SM; some could argue more so why not take them ?” He acknowledged. 

Jeno could finally understand where Renjun’s frustration surfaced because, with each possible solution, more and more questions kept being unsurfaced with no end in sight.

“They were all in China, more work to get artists outside the country.” Renjun proposed a probable answer.

“But they wouldn’t be in China, not Wayv at least. They would have been in Korea if their flight hadn’t been delayed, and even better Lucas and Ten would have even been a SuperM photoshoot.” Jeno pointed out.

“The photoshoot !”   


Their roles were reversed, it was Jeno’s turn to gasp a confused ‘what’ at Renjun’s epiphany. He didn’t know much about the photoshoot, just that it was supposed to take place the day of the kidnappings.

“I remember Donghyuck telling me about it because 127 had scheduled a meal for that day. He said it was weirdly spontaneous as if it appeared on Taeyong’s and Mark’s schedule out of nowhere so what if it did, what if the kidnappers made up this photoshoot so they could take them but it all got screwed up because of the flight delay.” Renjun speculated.

“That still doesn’t explain why they didn’t go after Kai sunbaenim.” Jeno countered

“Because...Because it was supposed to be span over two days: Ten hyung, Taeyong hyung, Taemin sunbaenim, and Baekhyun sunbaenim on one; and then Kai sunbaenim, Lucas hyung and Mark hyung on another. They going to kidnap all the people on day 1 at the same time but couldn’t due to flight delay and an error in Baekhyun’s schedule so they replaced Ten with Mark and then took Baekhyun from SM; it’s the only way to explain why they didn’t take Kai.” 

Renjun fanatic explanations got faster and faster with each minute as the truth became more unraveled. It was all making more coherent and then it suddenly hit him like an old rusted sledgehammer.

The realisation made his stomach unpleasantly chug and throb intertwined with a familiar deep burning sensation in his throat.

“If what you're saying is true then the only person with the authorization to do that is our managers.”

It couldn’t be true…

That someone they closely interacted with daily could be involved with such a corrupt, immoral act.

With glassy eyes filled to the brim with betrayal, Renjun opened his mouth however he was interrupted by a shout coming from outside the door. Looking at each other, they both moved to see what the commotion was about.

Neither of the Dream members was alarmed; tensions were continuously running high and it didn’t take much to push someone’s wrong buttons to point to an animalistic fighting match, resembling the ones seen on the discovery channel, to break out. It was most likely another ridiculous fight.

Keeping his footsteps light so he didn’t disturb whoever was in the room- _ he learned his lesson after trying to interfere in the last fight.  _ Jeno and Renjun entered the living room to see the WayV members: Kun, Hendery, and YangYang.

An instant red flag blared, seeing it was Kun who was shouting; attention purely focused on the phone he had clutched firmly in one hand. Kun hyung had been their stable rock: he had never wavered or crumbled once; seeing him ridden with such anger and shock, didn’t settle well with Jeno.

“YangYang, what’s going on ?” He faintly heard Renjun ask from behind him but it was the next part, YangYang’s response, that Jeno paid specific attention to.

“It’s Manager Gengxin Hyung, He’s been arrested.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AY AN UPDATE, sorry I left it on another cliffhanger it kind of just keeps happening :)   
> so I was quite unsure about this chapter, just because it more like a filler one and is a bit over the place but don't worry, it's going to make more sense in the next 2 chapters.   
> I really wanted to have a Dream member chapter because they haven't been represented yet in the book.  
> Also in case, people forgot (KIND OF A SPOILER) it's WayV manager.


	16. KUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Were you involved in the kidnappings of Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, Lee Taemin, and Byun Baekhyun"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYYY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK LEE WOOOP !!

Kun was slow to anger, something he deemed as one of his best qualities. Having a career filled with saesangs, hate comments, and intrusive media daily, this specific trait came in handy more times than he could count.

In his half-lived life, he could count, on his fingers, the times an inferno of true rage buried deep inside him.  _ 6 times _

One at the tender of 10.

Two throughout his teenage years.

Two thrown in towards the end of his long, endless trainee years.

_ And the 6th, being 3 hours ago. _

When he answered the call from Sicheng stating Gengxin ge had been arrested; A sudden flame of fury ignited in him and quickly spread through him like wildfire, disintegrating all common sense. A fury directed at the NIS and Agent Jung. An agent who Kun had truly believed cared about the case and the wellbeing of his members until Jung wasted what precious time they had by arresting his close friend instead of looking for the real perpetrators.

However over time, spent pacing a hole in the police station’s floor, his anger mellowed out into chilling doubt.

_ Was Gengxin ge involved? _

“I’m going to kill him,” Ten growled through gritted teeth, launching from his seat to stride towards the room where Gengxin was being held. The only thing that stopped him was a sudden grip of Sicheng’s hand on his arm.

“Ge, wait !”

“That bastard knows where my best friends are.” Ten exploded, violently shrugging off Sicheng, “I’m not just gonna stand here and do nothing.”

“We don’t know the full story, it could be a mistake.” Sicheng tried to rationally reason but Ten’s hatred saw no end.

“Our friends could be dying in some dingy basement in the middle of nowhere and you’re here trying to defend the sick son of a bitch. Have you completely lost-”

“That’s enough,” Kun ordered before the fight accelerated into something much more damaging to their relationship. It seemed Ten didn’t like that however because, with an annoyed scoff, he marched out of the station’s waiting room to stew in his anger.

“I’m going to go after him.” Lucas murmured, scurrying in the vague direction Ten went, leaving Sicheng and him alone.

Planting his body into the stiff station’s seat, next to Sicheng. Kun felt deep exhaustion, paired with an excruciating migraine, settled into his bones- _ he couldn’t remember the last time he got a real wink of sleep. _ All he wanted to do was sink into his mattress and wish this was some terrifying fever dream. He didn’t want to be at the police station at 5 am, questioning every friendship he’s ever had.

_ I am glad I was able to persuade YangYang, Hendery, and Xiaojun to stay in the dorm. _

“Do you think Ten’s right? Do you think Manager ge could have been involved ?” Sicheng whispered, eye shining with unshed tears and uncertainty. Perfectly reflecting Kun’s soul.

“...I don’t know.” He admitted guilty, keeping his gaze away from the younger WayV member and fixed upon the room where all their questions laid. In front of the said room were 3 agents, one being Agent Jung and the 2 he faintly recognised but couldn’t remember the names of, in a heated discussion, “But I think I know where we could find out.”

Ignoring Sicheng’s spluttered questions, Kun made his way across the room to the agents, catching the tail end of their conversation.

“He’s not saying anything. We’re lucky he hasn’t lawyered up yet but if he doesn’t talk in an hour or so, we won’t be able to keep him here Jung.”

“Should we even be bothering with this guy, the drop is in less than 14 hours.”

“He’s hiding something-something important. We need cooperation and fast.” Agent Jung firmly stated to his two coworkers.

“What if I talked to him ?” Kun suggested, revealing his eavesdropping presence.

His brain didn’t catch what came out of his mouth until it was out in the open and 3 agents were looking with questioning, skeptical eyes. Kun didn’t want to talk to the man who possibly sold out his band and friends to some sick psychopaths but his human curiosity got the best of him.

“...That could work, what do you think Jung ?” The agent on Jung’s left inquired.

“Sir, we can’t possibly ask-”

“We didn’t ask, he offered. Gengxin is enclosed and scared, but guilty of something. It’ll take time for those walls to come down, a friendly face may accelerate that.” Agent Jung considered, immediately shooting down the agent’s worry.

Without any more objections, Agent Jung escorted him to the integration room. The closer he got, the more his heart started to painfully pound in his chest; Kun was almost starting to regret his spontaneous decision to be the one to talk to Gengxin ge.

_ It’s not like the older man would try to hurt him, would he? _

He never got the time to delve into that worrisome thought before Agent Jung left him and he entered the dreaded room.

The first thing Kun noticed when entering the room was Gengxin looked the same as he did last time he saw him yesterday morning- _ was it still considered yesterday if he hasn’t slept yet.  _ In his mind, he had been building up this image as if this terrifying revelation had turned the older man into this evil, monstrous demon but it hadn’t. Gengxin was still the fairly handsome, young man that he considered to be an older brother.

Gengxin ge was sitting on the hard, steel chair with the matching table, in the middle of the room. His gaze was permanently fixed upon his hoodie covered hands, the same hoodie he had been wearing to go to the hospital to visit NCT 127’s manager Youngjae- _ where he eventually got arrested _ . The only time he looked up was when Kun entered, blatant shock written on his tired face at the idol’s entrance.

“Coffee ?” Kun offered, gesturing the steaming styrofoam cup to his manager. The one Agent Jung had given him alongside his helpful advice ‘ _ Make him feel comfortable and relaxed, once he then starts asking questions about the investigation.’  _

The Chinese manager murmured a quiet ‘thank you’ before carefully taking the caffeine loaded drink from the Leader.

“Looks like you need it.” He remarked, sitting down in the opposite chair, “Your eye bags have eye bags.”

“Guess it’s been a long day.”

And just like that, the two slipped into simplicity as if nothing changed between them. As if one of them wasn’t being accused of accessory and the other wasn’t attempting to interrogate him.

“I’m surprised you haven’t tried to wring your hands around my neck yet.” Gengxin bitterly chuckled, a faint choke evident in his voice as he stared down back at his hands clenched tightly around the coffee cup, “Then again mindless anger isn’t your forte.”

“Ten attempted to before Sicheng and I stopped him.” He impassively divulged, masking the turmoil inside him, “He believes you’re guilty.”

“And what do you think ?”

There it was.

The million-dollar question.

Did he believe Gengxin ge was guilty or innocent?

“At first, I truly believed you had nothing to do with this. That the NIS was trying to convict the wrong man but as I look at you, it’s easy to see your hiding something and I don’t know how we missed it for the last couple days. Probably because we were too focused on our kidnapped friends. ” Kun confided truthfully, his emotionless demeanour crumbling down to show his desperation “So I’m going to ask you this and if our friendship means anything to you, you’ll answer truthfully. Were you involved in the kidnapping of Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, Lee Taemin, and Byun Baekhyun ?”

Kun could feel Agent Jung’s watchful eyes pierce into his soul from behind the two-way mirror because he had just thrown all advice and tact right back at his face but the idol didn’t care. He needed to know and he needed to know now.

He had been waiting for too long.

Gengxin didn’t say anything for a few minutes but a flicker of two tears ridden, remorseful eyes at Kun and he knew.

He finally knew the truth and his heart simultaneously shattered into a million pieces.

“Oh my fucking god..you were...”

“I’m sorry” The manager apologised but Kun ignored it. All anger and fury he believed to have disappeared and mellowed out from earlier, started to rear its ugly head once again. This time though, it was aimed at Gengxin.

“How could you !” He stormed, making Gengxin violently flinch. The Chinese idol even surprised himself at the volume his voice rose to.

“I..I didn’t know what they’d do” Gengxin tried to justify, “My wife lost her job a few months ago and It was getting harder to financially support her and my two children. Then one day someone comes up to me-”

“Who came up to you ?” Kun hissed.

“I don’t know, they never said their name. They offered me enough money to pay the bills for nearly over a year, just for sticking some USB into one of the company’s computers so SuperM’s schedule would change. I was too desperate to care so I took the money, by the time I knew what they were doing it was too late.” 

His manager’s explanation did nothing to stem the seething rage inside him, if anything his attempt at justifying his horrible actions only made it worse.

“You could have come to us or SM. Or even better could have gone to the police.” He scolded, ripping down Gengxin's argument bit by bit.

“They knew where I lived and which school my sons went to. I couldn’t risk it knowing they could do something to my family.”

Somewhere buried in his brain, past the raging storm, he could understand where Gengxin was coming from. He was just doing what he could to provide the best life for his family but Kun couldn’t let go of his anger; he didn’t want to because what would he have left if he did, just the ashes of his betrayed heart.

“But when it got to the day of the...I couldn’t go through with it so I...I..”

Suddenly it hit Kun, like a stack of bricks in the face, what Gengxin had done and everything made so much more sense.

“Our flight wasn’t delayed that day was it ?” Kun tearfully asked, already knowing the answer even more so when his confirmation came by a nod of Gengxin’s head.

It felt like two sides of him were in an endless conflict with each other, causing him to rip at the seams. One clinging to his friendship with the older man and thankful he tried to protect WayV while the other saw only the horrid truth.

“I swear to you on the life of my sons, I do not know where they are keeping Taemin, Taeyong, Mark, and Baekhyun. You have to believe me.”

_ Did he believe him? _

Could Kun ever believe anything that came out of Gengxin’s mouth or had the betrayal destroyed any trust he once had for the man?

He needed to end this internal conflict raging within him and make a decision about Gengxin.

Kun took the time to stare into Gengxin’s simmering, regretful eyes, and, relying purely on his gut, Chinese idol leaped

“I believe you, I do and I am grateful for you risking your family to protect mine but you also let 4 innocent individuals, two of which are some of my closest friends, get kidnapped and that I can’t overlook.” Kun relentlessly stated, his gaze never wavering from his manager.

“I completely understand.” Gengxin sighed, accepting what his actions have caused, “But could you do me a favour and I know I have no right to ask this. Could you promise to look out for my family, If I go down.”

“I promise”

With that last promise, Kun left the room with tears falling thick and fast as he mourned for the severed bonds of friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you guys liked it as well.  
> Next chapter is the drop from Sehun's POV sooooooooo look forward to that.


	17. SEHUN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ransom Drop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAEMIN COMEBACK ! TAEMIN COMEBACK !  
> If yall haven't streamed 2KIDS yet then go do it now, that's more important than this update.

“-And that should be everything, any questions ?”

_ Yeah, could you repeat everything you’ve just said? _

To be honest, Sehun had blanked out the minute the young, female agent had started to talk. His mind immediately drifted focus to the bulletproof vest tightly gripping his chest, almost to the point it was suffocating him.

It wasn’t his first time experiencing sickening nervousness before; he vaguely remembered having the same type of feeling for their first debut showcase. Honestly, sometimes it would creep back up occasionally for the simplest performances.

This was different, however.

This was direr than messing up a performance or fear he’d disappoint his fans.

This was life or death and it was all entirely in both of his large hands.

“Don’t worry, Agent Jung will explain it again in the car.” The agent reassured, probably sensing Sehun’s jitters. Something he was eternally grateful to her for.

She left quickly after that, leaving only him and Junmyeon in the room.

His hyung had been in the corner of the police station’s waiting room, quietly observing. To many, he looked like a calm and collected leader but Sehun had known the older member for too long to know that wasn’t the case. Junmyeon’s fingers were violently shaking in time with the quiet taps of his right foot, he was equally as terrified as Sehun was.  _ He was just better at hiding it. _

“You can still back out if you want.” Junmyeon consoled, “It’s completely up to you.”

A small part of him wanted to believe his hyung, that he had the choice to walk out of the station and carry on as if nothing ever happened but that choice left when the kidnappers said his name over the phone to Jungwoo. It wasn’t up to him.

“I can’t,” Sehun stated firmly.

Junmyeon’s only response was a small sad smile and two glistening eyes as if he knew Sehun’s answer before he even uttered it.

“I’m so proud of you and I love you so much, you hear me” The leader professed with two trembling hands cupping the younger’s face. He knew his hyung was trying his best to comfort him but to Sehun’s morbid brain, it sounded like he was saying goodbye. 

But Sehun refrained himself from saying that, instead he thanked Junmyeon hyung and pulled his smaller body into a warm hug. When the agents came back to fetch him, he almost didn’t want to let go, feeling as if he was 14 all over again. They both must have looked pathetically heartbreaking, clinging onto each other with such ferocity like it was the last time they were ever going to see each other. 

_ It may be. _

The ride to Han River dragged on endlessly, despite it only being under 20 mins. He tried his best to concentrate on what Agent Jung was drilling into him and not the stifling panic engulfing him steadily without Junmyeon’s reassuring presence.

“I know this is a terrifying situation to be put in and I’m grateful for your cooperation. Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan then we can get your members back before nightfall.” The agent explained, leaning forward in his seat with elbows on knees. Keeping up the pretence that this was some casual conversation and him not sending a 26-year-old to his apparent demise.

“These people have control over everything. Whatever they ask of you, you must do. If it’s to search the bag for trackers or count the money, you do it for them so they can see everything. We have over a dozen agents and police stationed throughout Han River uncover so if anything arises which we deem suspicious, they have authority to interfere. Your safety is our priority.”

_ Isn’t that against what the kidnappers want though, if they interfere Taeyong, Mark, Taemin hyung and Baekhyun hyung could get hurt... or worse die. _

Sehun thought as he nodded along to the Agent’s instructions.  _ Concentrate, remember that this all for Baekhyun hyung. _

All concentration, or any idea of it, flew straight out of the window when the car stopped and any remaining acid in his stomach shot straight to his throat turning his skin visibly ten times paler. His whole body started to vibrate minuscule, involuntary movements by the second, it was as if he was having a panic attack and a seizure at the same time. It was indescribable, Sehun had never experienced anything like it before.

He needed more time.

He wasn’t ready for this yet.

“It's going to be alright.” Agent Jung consoled, placing a warm hand onto his knee in a comforting gesture which just made Sehun long even more for one of his hyungs soothing embraces. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, not when he was fidgeting in a cramped, inconspicuous black Hyundai.

It was the middle of June and until today, the weather had been unusually and unrelentingly cold with every swirl of wind piercing an innocent bystander’s soul. However, the moment Sehun emerged from the car, sweltering heat envelope around him. He made a move to take his oversized white hoodie, already feeling sweat uncomfortably seep into this t-shirt but stopped himself last minute as the stiff kevlar dug into his ribs reminded him that he wasn’t allowed to; the hoodie was the only thing masking the very obvious bulletproof vest from the public eye.

Somewhere, less populated by the masses of civilians enjoying the spontaneous warm weather, Sehun found a vacant bench where he moved his, now spaghetti, legs to sit while grimacing at his now sweaty palms that he pried off the money-filled duffel bag, he placed on the floor. This was it, there is no turning back.

The clock hands on Sehun’s watch ticked closer and closer to the two dreaded numbers 12 and 7. Every time someone passed him, unknowing of what was occurring before their very eyes, Sehun trembled in anticipation thinking it was one of the perpetrators. 

But it never was. 

They were only families, couples, friends blissfully and naively passing through.

Thankfully a fan hadn’t spotted the agitated idol yet, even though the entire population of Seoul seemed to be at the Han River. Sehun usually liked having fan encounters but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to autograph a random piece of paper when he was waiting for his inevitable death.

_ Shit...Shit… _

_ It’s 7 pm... _

_ Where are they? _

_What_ _if they don’t come? What if they’ve decided they don’t want the money? What if they’ve already killed them? What if-_

“Have you got the money ?”

At the sound of the stoic voice, Sehun’s head vigorously snapped to his right, with so much force he was surprised his cervical vertebrae didn’t snap into two, and his entire body levitated off the bench in fright. He found himself staring at an older, shorter man who was much skinnier than him but still delivered the message that he could throw a good punch your way if you pissed him off, Sehun concluded seeing the peaking biceps underneath his white t-shirt. Weirdly the man reminded him of Taemin a bit.

When Sehun imagined this scenario, his nightmares would always conjure up a bulky, muscular man which tripled in comparison to Sehun’s height and size but this was different. He may not be able to see the man’s face, due to him wearing a face mask, but to anyone, including Sehun, he looked like the average person on the street; this thought made him feel sicker than before.

Sehun nodded his head so quickly it could have flown straight off his neck; he didn’t trust his mouth could summon any coherent words at this point so he ended up pointing at the bag lying next to his feet like he was a frightened toddler.

“Open it”

Shakingly, with some hesitance, the EXO maknae leaned down to open the bag, fumbling with the zipper. He’s not proud to admit it took him more than several tries to successfully open it. Laying prettily and neatly before his eyes were endless stacks of notes, all painted in bright yellow; despite being a world-renowned idol, Sehun had never seen so many 50,000 won notes before and after today he’d never like to see another again. 

Subconsciously, Sehun’s eyes started to slightly drift away from the masses of won and back to the man; his eyes slowly trailing his body, trying to pinpoint any sign of a weapon. Gun or knife, Sehun didn’t care what it was, a weapon was still a weapon. He never got the chance to delve deeper into this thought before the man barked another order at him.

“Count it and make sure every note is visible.”

The idol had enough manager, choreographers, and executives, the list went on and on, barking orders at him daily- _ he still vividly remembered the time a choreographer shouted at him so much his face was drenched in spit by the end of it- _ Sehun didn’t flinch when the criminal gruffly asked him to count the money.

Reaching up slowly to bring the bag to his knees and brushing up his rusty maths skills, Sehun’s long thin fingers flickered through the notes as he counted every individual one. He could only hope he wouldn’t lose count halfway through or he won’t know what to do.

_ 50,000...100,000….150,000….20,000… _

All of a sudden, a deafening ringing interrupted his counting. It was coming from the man’s back pocket. Angrily he picked up the phone with a bearish growl, “What.” as he left Sehun dumbfounded on what to do, hand still frozen in mid-air from counting.

The agents had prepared him for everything except for this; what was he supposed to do, carry on and keep counting or wait until the man’s attention was back on him?

They don’t exactly teach these kinds of circumstances in school.

Helplessly, Sehun scoured the surrounding area in the hope he’d spot some agent peppered around on nearby benches, pathways, or picnics but he couldn’t see anyone. It was like Agent Jung said they’d be undercover which meant not visible in the slightest capacity.

If Sehun thought he felt alone and vulnerable before, it wasn’t anything like what he felt now.

He was so caught up in his muddled anxious brain, Sehun almost missed the man’s conversation. Something he rather wished he did from what he heard on his side.

“What do you mean they...how many...yes I’m still here, I can take-are you sure ?...yes sir, right away ?”

_ What’s happened- _

_ Are they dead?  _

_ Please no..no...no- _

The man hung up after that and to Sehun’s surprise, he believed he saw a quick flicker of regret and reluctance flare in the man’s hazel eyes before switching back to its original stoicism.

“I’m sorry, kid-”

At first, Sehun was confused until his eyes came down to his broad chest and came across a long, black gun pointing directly at him. His heart leaped to his mouth, his stomach sank to the floor and all remnants of breath stilled.

This was it.

This was where he was going to die.

“-I’ve got no choice, boss’ orders ”

Sehun’s eyes automatically closed as the resounding click of the safety turning off echoed inside his ears. 

He didn’t want to look.

He didn’t want this man to be the last thing he sees before he dies.

Blurry memories of his mum, dad, brother, and members flashed before his eyes.

_ Minseok,Junmyeon,Yixing,Baekhyun,Jongdae,Chanyeol,Kyungsoo, and Jongin… _

_ ….I’m sorry… _

“NIS, PUT YOUR HANDS UP WHERE I CAN SEE THEM.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw poor Sehunnie, I'm sorry I had to put you through this traumatic event.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> Spoiler for the next we're back to the famous gang of 4 and it's going to be in Mark's POV :)


	18. MARK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "and remember, don't look back."

“I don’t like this, I don’t like leaving them here.”

Taeyong whispered into Mark's ear and he wholeheartedly agreed. When Baekhyun and Taemin told them about this concoction of a plan where they distracted their abductors while he carries Taeyong so they both can make a run for it. Mark instantly doubted it would work, there were too many things which could go wrong, it was a great big fat shot in the dark. The Canadian had blatantly voiced his concerns to the elder members but they were both too stubborn to listen to him or Taeyong.

“Me neither but what can we do, they’re both deadset on it,” Mark stated, carefully watching his hyungs across the room talking in hushed whispers. He rubbed his now free, sore wrists as they bickered over minor details in their plan once again like they could predict what was going to happen. Despite his disapproval over the botched idea, he could understand why they were doing it.

They were desperate and when you’re desperate, you tend to do irrational stupid things.

Unknowing to Taeyong, Mark’s eyes flickered down to where Taeyong’s head rested on his shoulder; the reason why Baekhyun hyung and Taemin hyung were desperate. At first, it wasn’t as clear, Taeyong was only a little paler than usual but who wouldn’t be when you have a broken leg, in addition to being kidnapped. However, as their days in captivity accumulated so did Taeyong’s symptoms. The pale and clammy skin, nausea, the fatigue and now his breathing had turned shallow; Taeyong was in shock and it wasn’t getting better anytime soon.

“You should go without me.” 

“Hyung, we’re not having this conversation again.” Mark wearily stressed, staring defiantly back at Taeyong’s pleading bloodshot eyes. The minute this plan was open in the air, Taeyong had been trying to persuade Mark to go alone; something reminiscent of their conversation in the van on the way to this hellish basement.

“You’d be a lot faster without me as dead weight. There'd be less chance of them catching just you out there. Please ” Taeyong beseeched with all his fragile might but Mark wasn’t being swayed.

“Hyung I love you but that’s never going to happen.”

Mark may not be the strongest in NCT- _ no one could come close to the sheer force of Johnny’s strength- _ but with all the willpower in him, he’d carry Taeyong to the end of the earth if that’s what it took to get him away from here.

“Mark please-”

“You’re going with him, end of discussion.” Baekhyun interrupted, coming over to the two with Taemin lagging.

He knew Taeyong wanted to speak more on the matter but decided to clamp his mouth shut, knowing it wouldn’t do any good- _ Mark felt for him, Baekhyun hyung scolding you could be scary sometimes. _

“It’s going to be any minute now until one of them comes down here when they do, you pick Taeyong up and you don’t look back for a single second.” Their leader instructed, primarily to the youngest of the 4. However as Mark gazed upon Baekhyun crouched before him, he wondered how this small man would be able to hold off someone like Changwoo, who was more likely triple his height, even with a black belt in hapkido and Taemin in his corner; their chances weren’t looking good.

_ This isn’t going to work _

But Mark didn’t say that, all he could choke out was a slight weak joke, “Aye, Aye Captain.” This was paired with two tear-filled eyes that threatened to engulf him at any second.

“Oh come here.”

Suddenly, Baekhyun pulled all of them into an impromptu group hug- _ very impromptu if the huff of air Taemin released when he was dragged down onto the floor said anything.  _ It may have been uncomfortable to the point it was straining his back; he didn’t care however, it was warm and soothing to him.

“Cause when we’re jumping and popping, we’re jopping.” Baekhyun wetly jokes, tears spilling from his eyes thick and fast. For that small moment, Mark allowed himself to belt out a hearty laugh- _ he couldn’t remember the last time, he properly laughed,  _ and he heard everyone join in as well; they forgot about where they were and what they would be sacrificing, they enjoyed this short moment of bliss.

And it was short.

Before they knew it, the four idols heard footsteps on the other side of the door and any brief happiness felt was quickly replaced with familiar, unsettling dread.

“Get into places,” Taemin shot the order over his shoulder as he briskly walked over to the door’s blindspot and readied his makeshift weapon, a large piece of wood, “and remember don’t look back.”

Baekhyun went to the other blindspot on the other side of the room, not before giving the two younger rappers an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder. Leaving the two in the centre so they’d have quick access to bolt out.

“You ready ?” Mark quavered, getting into the perfect position to immediately bridal carry Taeyong out of the door.

“No, but when will I ever? ” Taeyong answered earnestly, his fear reflecting Mark’s perfectly.

_ Well, at least he’s being honest. _

They all heard the lock slide open and collectively held their breath. Preparing themselves for everything to go to shit _ which it did. _

Changwoo barely had a chance to register the ‘disappearance’ of two of his captives before he was propelled onto the floor by the drastic force Taemin emitted when hitting him over the head. 

Mark never got the chance to see Baekhyun lunge for the bulkier man because the minute the opportunity arose, he picked up Taeyong and ran.

Obedient to his hyungs, he didn’t look back and kept running; he ignored the hitting of flesh, Changwoo’s shouts, and grunts of pain even from Taeyong whenever his injured leg was jostled.

His undivided attention was on the front door, directly ahead. He could only pray and hope to any deity above that it was open, Mark didn’t know what he’d do if it wasn’t. 

Someone from somewhere out there must have heard him because it wasn’t locked, allowing Mark to hurl himself out into fresh air.

It was evening, probably around the time of the ransom, however, this was all only an assumption due to the sun still being high in the sky, relentlessly belting down onto him. His ears picked up a multitude of shouts, belting out their names, from behind him but he didn’t stop and ventured further and further into the bundle of trees surrounding the house.

His breath got heavier, his arms trembled from the strain of carrying Taeyong and his only socked feet throbbed and ached as they smacked into every stray branch on the woodland floor. Despite the clear exhaustion, he gathered up any adrenaline in him and carried on at full speed. 

He had to.

For Taemin and Baekhyun who they sacrificed to the wolves for the possibility of their safety.

This was only the physical strain, the mental strain was far worse. With every snap of a single twig, rust of a leaf and chirp of a bird-filled Mark with an intense fear which was waiting for a bullet to embed into his back or a looming body to slam into him unexpectedly.

Mark was so wrapped up inside his hurricane of fear, guilt, and paranoia, he didn’t notice his foot get tangled into an overgrown root of a tree and like any overused, cliche horror movie trope, he and Taeyong were sent crashing down onto the floor.

Fortunately, even though it was his fault, Mark came out relatively unscathed: he was bit more bruised than before due to the rough landing; his ribs throbbed and ached with more intensity, already bruised from the car accident; and his ankle flared up with slight pain when twisted in a certain direction. Other than that, he was okay and able to stand on his own two feet.

The same couldn’t be said for Taeyong. His hyung was withering on the floor in pain: one hand inside his mouth, biting on it, trying to fight down his screams while the other hovered and spasmed over his leg sporadically. Mark knew Taeyong had a high level of pain tolerance, he had seen the man do a full-on dance break with a sprained ankle and still be on his feet by the end of it however seeing his hyung now, with tears of frustration and agony streaming down his face. They looked like two completely different people. 

“Hyung, come on-” Mark urgently pleaded, head swiveling around the forest for the sight of any looming, threatening figure, “We need to go.”

“I can’t-I can’t, you have to go on without me.” Taeyong gasped, brushing Mark fanatic hands trying to pick him up again.

“No-No for the last time that’s not going to happen. It’s always been us two, since the beginning, together. Through the long practices, never-ending schedules, and sleepless nights in the studio, we’ve been through it all side by side so if you think for a single moment I’m going to leave you here then you don’t know as well as you think you do.” Mark stubbornly refuted.

He knew he was being selfish and outright screwing over his other two hyungs that stayed behind but Mark didn’t care. He had already lost two of his friends, he couldn’t lose another.

Taeyong didn’t utter a word after that, he just gazed back down to his leg, using his pain glazed eyes, and contemplated his choices. If it wasn’t for the nod, confirming for Mark to pick him back up again, and the new sudden determination in his eyes which came soon after, the younger rapper would have picked the older man up right there and then even if Taeyong fought him with every tooth and nail.

They had already wasted too much time.

So with great urgency, he bent down- _ ignoring the blooming pain unleashing in his ribs-  _ to lift the lighter idol and carried on sprinting, never taking a break until he felt the rotten leaves turn into sharp gravel that sliced and dug into his feet.

They were next to a road, one that just kept stretching on and on, unending.

“What do we do now ?” Mark rhetorically whispered out loud. They didn’t plan this far ahead, never expecting to make it truthfully. 

There were two choices: they could hide and wait for someone to drive, or they could carry on walking until they found contact with someone.

Both options carried their weight of problems with it.

The most prevalent, they were still being chased by two deranged psychopaths who may never stop pursuing the idols.

Taking his rightful place as a leader- _ something Mark was grateful for-  _ Taeyong chose the two, “We’ll carry on walking, you think you’re up for that. We don’t know how long it’ll be until we find another person or at least a working phone.”

Mark didn’t know if he could go on for much longer with his adrenaline dwindling hastily, no shoes and the sweltering heat searing off his skin but he remembered the promise he made Baekhyun, to get Taeyong help.

_ “Promise me, Mark.” _

_ “I promise”  _

"I can do it.” He answered confidently, blindly picking a direction and moving his bloodied feet down the rough, dragging road into the unknown. __


	19. MINSEOK

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Where are they?"

Minseok knew he shouldn’t be back here, he must be violating a hundred and one regulations by setting a single foot in here and that was made clear by one of the police officers screaming at him to go back outside into the waiting room.

But he couldn’t do it anymore, he couldn’t wait in the shadows and pray everything was going to turn out well. So the eldest member of EXO stood his ground and that’s how he found himself in the observation room looking at one of his friend’s abductors, from behind the two-way mirror.

He had to give credit to Agent Jung. The Agent had been his saving grace in this entire mess and was the one who sent the annoying officer away with a single order; Minseok couldn’t understand why the agent had allowed him to stay when it could potentially put his job on the line but he didn’t want to risk asking in case it ended up with him being thrown out by the end.

“Coffee ?” The said Agent offered the idol as he poured his own.

Giving a small smile from the table squeezed into the middle of the room, Minseok responded with a, “Please, with a splash of milk.”

Soon after, the agent joined him carrying the two coffees with him. Minseok tentatively sipped the boiling hot beverage; he usually preferred something much stronger like an americano but this was the 5th cup today so he decided to go for something much weaker for the sake of his health.

“One of my colleagues called, Junmyeon and Sehun made it home safely.” Agent Jung informed.

Another thing he owned Agent Jung for; after the utter fiasco of the drop, many of the officers wanted Sehun to stay and recount what happened at the Han river. Their youngest member was in such hysteria that Agent Jung’s team had to step in and demand they let the poor man go home. Junmyeon went with him, of course, the two were conjoined at the hip after what happened and for good reason.

When word reached the Exo dorm that all the members had taken refuge in-except _ for Jongin who was still at the hospital-  _ Minseok was one who raced over to the station to meet up with their leader and maknae in a mixture of emotions, primarily outrage and anxiety. Outrage to the man who tried and almost exceeded to murder his youngest brother; and anxiety for Baekhyun, Taemin, Taeyong, and Mark, and what may happen to them since the drop was a colossal failure.

He remembered what the kidnappers threatened if the drop wasn’t successful.

_ “We will shatter every single bone in both of Lee Taemin-ssi's legs. We will rip out Byun Baekhyun-ssi’s vocal cords. We will burn Lee Taeyong-ssi’s face until it melts off; and we will cut every finger slowly and painfully from both of Mark Lee’s hands.” _

The words still made him shiver to the core.

Subconsciously his eyes drifted to the man in the integration room whose eyes were fixed on his handcuffed hands laid out before him; apparently, he hadn’t breathed a word since his arrest at the river and the police still haven’t been able to identify him, if what Minseok’s nosy ears caught were correct. 

The 30-year-old idol had never believed himself to be capable of any action which would cause deliberate harm to another however seeing this man in front of him, someone who was responsible for kidnapping 4 innocent people, 2 of which he was close with. Minseok was finding it hard not to charge into the room and wrap his hands around the guy’s throat.

“May I ask you, something Agent ?” Minseok politely wondered, trying to drift his attention away from the monster so he didn’t end up doing something he’ll regret later on, “and if it’s too personal, you may say no. I’m grateful you let me stay here but why did you ?”

The agent took some time to respond, carefully placing his cup down and deliberating what his answer should be.

“My father was a very successful lawyer while he was alive he put away a great number of corrupt individuals and in doing so made many enemies. When I was 17 years old, my younger brother was kidnapped by a man named Choi Youngho, the brother of Choi Sungho who my father put away in prison on the account of theft and drug possession and then committed suicide a year later. Youngho believed my father was the reason his brother committed suicide so in an act of revenge kidnapped my brother. The police were able to catch him but by the time they got to Youngho, it was too late.”

“...I’m sorry” Minseok meekly muttered, lost for words on what to say.  _ Stupid, he probably doesn’t want your pity. I’d imagine he’s sick of people’s pity. _

“That’s the sole reason why I decided to join the NIS so I could stop people, like Choi Youngho, and save people like your friends. I trust my team wholeheartedly, they are passionate and wouldn’t stop until we find your friends.” The agent assured, slightly lifting Minseok’s spirits since what seemed like forever.

“Jung, we found out who our guy is,” Another agent announced, interrupting their moment as he slapped down a stack of papers onto the table in front of Jung- _ he wasn’t proud to admit the sound made him jump and nearly spill his coffee all over his jeans-  _ “His name is Kim Kyungho and age 29 years old. For what I can see he seems like a well put together, smart guy; He had a full scholarship to SNU for architecture and there's nothing too serious on his record except involvement in minor vandalism from when he was a teen.”

“Had ?” Minseok blurted out before he could stop himself, the agent took a quick second glance at the idol but didn’t question his presence which helped to affirm Minseok’s confidence in Agent Jung’s team and his statement.

“He dropped out in the middle of his 1st year for personal reasons.” 

“No father in the picture; only a step-father who died 9 years and then his mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer 4 years ago, I'd say those all definitely count as personal reasons.” Agent Jung observed, sipping his, now lukewarm, beverage as he flickered through the profile, “ He also has a younger step-sister who is 15 years old.” 

“So dad leaves at a young age and he falls into the wrong crowd at school that peer pressures him into doing minor crimes such as vandalism, underage smoking, and drinking; stuff which can become an outlet for his dad leaving him. This keeps happening until mum meets stepfather and eventually have their child; allowing him to get his shit together and go to uni but eventually has to leave when the father dies-”

“He gets a low-income job to help out his mother but she gets diagnosed for cancer and is too sick to work; leaving him potentially struggling financially to provide for both his mother, her hospital, and younger sister. Sounds like a probable reason for a smart man to look out for his old pals in school and participate in the kidnapping of 4 idols,” Jung commented.

“I’m confused, how does this help us ?” Minseok acquiesced to either of the agents, not fully understanding the importance of finding out the abductor’s whole back story. 

“Because we now know he’s not the one in charge. Someone with barely a criminal record or fought his way to get straight As doesn’t instantly turn to crime when things turn sideways, it has to be handed to them. This gives us a chance to be able to persuade him in revealing the location of your friends and the others involved.” The other agent pointed out while Jung’s attention was primarily fixated on Kyungho, contemplating how to approach the man in the right way.

Before Minseok could interject again, Agent Jung abruptly stood up and entered the integration room briskly. It must have been a general occurrence because the other agent slightly chuckled at the idols’ shocked expression, “Don’t worry, he knows what he is doing.”

Involuntarily, Minseok found himself rising from his chair as Jung started to talk to Kyungho, whose eyes briefly flickered up to the older agent. If he wasn’t mistaken, the idol may have recognised a small amount of fear bleed through his eyes.

“Do you want something to drink, Kim Kyungho-ssi ?” Agent Jung politely offered the same as he did with Minseok; except this time with Kyungho it felt as if it was a ploy and not out of general politeness, “Tea, Coffee, Water ?”

Kyungho made no move to respond which didn’t faze the experienced agent; instead, he calmly sat down opposite to the abductor and carried on talking like nothing happened.

“I must say, I had the privilege to look at a few of the designs which you created in uni. I’m not an expert at architecture but they must have been very impressive if SNU allowed a first year’s work to be displayed on their website.” 

Turning briefly back to the table, Minseok could now see a few pages, in the pile the other agent brought in, sticking out revealing beautifully drawn layouts and sketches of a variety of buildings. He had to grudgingly admit the man was talented.

“A shame that talent wasn’t explored further, with you dropping out of SNU soon after-”

“Would you shut up.” Kyungho rudely growled, gritting his teeth as if he was restraining himself from ripping the agent throat out with them while his eyes stayed firmly on the table.

“What stage is your mother at ?”

Minseok’s eyes blew open wide at the suddenness of Jung’s question; he was waiting for the man to leap across the table, forgoing all restraint he had earlier, to wrap his meaty hands around Jung’s throat. 

However, that never happened.

Instead, Kyungho finally rose to meet Jung’s gaze and there was no anger or resentment in it. Just despair and weariness. Something he had seen too many times in his reflection.

“She’s on stage 3, ” The criminal admitted, “and chemo isn’t working anymore; The doctor said there’s this experimental drug that could help but it’s too expensive.”

_ “Fuck my bleeding heart,”  _ Minseok thought, feeling a drop of sympathetic drip from heart replacing his blinding anger.

“Look I get it alright. You want to use my mother, sister, or whatever to tell you where the idols are but at the end of the day, I’m still going to prison so what’s the point.” Kyungho stubbornly objected.

Your right, at the end of the day you’ll be charged with the kidnapping of 4 idols and the attempted murder of Oh Sehun,” Jung agreed, “However you can change if those 4 idols make it out alive and how many years you spend in that prison.”

Kyungho seemed to be contemplating Jung’s suggestion however his stubbornness was stopping him from saying anything. 

“I can’t promise you that your mother will get the treatment she deserves or that she’ll survive because it is out of my jurisdiction. I can promise you this though that if you do end up in prison, you will have the privilege of being by your mother and to comfort your sister if the worst comes to f ruition , that can only happen if you tell me where they are.”

The silence which echoed through the integration room tore more wounds through Minseok’s already injured soul. He’s not going to say anything…

He’s going to let them die…

That bastard is the reason my friends-my brothers are going to die-

“My old friend from high school, Lee Changwoo, approached around the beginning of the year and said we should catch up. After hearing about my mother, he offered me a job that would cover all the costs for the treatment, and blindly I accepted. I didn’t know what it was for and who I’d be working for but the time I did it was too late.” Kyungho sighed, relenting to Jung’s questions.

“Where are they ?”

“They’re-”

Minseok never caught what Kyungho said before a swarm of agents and police alike entered the observation room, simultaneous to another officer entering the integration room and urgently whispering something into Jung’s whisper. It was clear something had happened and whatever it was, it was big.

“What’s going on.” Minseok feverishly asked the agent next to him, seeing him rush to gather his things and leave the room. The said agent hesitated to tell the idol, pausing in mid-step, without Jung’s clear presence next to them.

“Mark Lee and Lee Taeyong were found at a petrol station outside Damyang. Their condition is unknown but we know they’re alive”

Mark and Taeyong...they’re okay

He knew those words should fill his heart with the utmost joy but for some reason, they didn’t. It just filled and drowned in dread because all he could focus on was the one worrisome thought bouncing around in his head.

Where are Baekhyun and Taemin?

Like he could hear Minseok's inner thoughts, Kyungho uttered something as the agent was leaving. Something he didn’t need to hear at all.

“Agent, it doesn’t matter if I’ve told you where they are. By the time you get there, Taemin-ssi and Baekhyun-ssi will already be dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo it's been a while and a lot has happened while I've been gone. The most important is I GOT INTO MY FIRST CHOICE IN UNI (even if the UK government tried to screw my future up)  
> I am going to try and start studying in preparation for me going however my goal is to first this before I go because I do want to first this story to the best of my ability.  
> Anyway I hope you like this chapter, next will be Taemin POV so stay tuned x


	20. A/N: UPDATE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT AN CHAPTER

Hi, I know it's been a while and for that, I sincerely apologise. Due to COVID and the circumstances here in the UK, my university has asked me to move in earlier than what I was excepting so with me preparing to move and get my life sorted out before this giant change happens; I haven't found the time to truly sit down and finish the upcoming chapter. My wish is still to finish this story so all I can ask for is your patience with me as this may take some time to do.  
I want to thank you all for your nice comments and continued support; I could see some of you were getting worried so I thought it was best to update you on the situation at hand and ease them.

Anyway thank you again x

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been inspired by Survivor4Life and their story 'Bring them home'. So go check them out.


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